Podcast War! Brandon Marshall Says He Dreams of Making His Show as Valuable as Barstool and Every One of His Ex-Cohosts Tear Him to Shreds

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There are few things in popular culture more rewarding than a good success story. Take for instance, Brandon Marshall, who 14 years ago or so seemed like the prototype of the over-privileged, malcontented superstar athlete rebelling against the team that made him a wealthy man. But then he went public with his mental health issues, got help, had a wildly successful career in football, and used that to establish an equally successful career as a broadcaster. Which is good for everyone. 

But then again, the reality of life in the 2020s is that it's even more rewarding and better for everyone when famous people have very public beefs. Whatever Ellen Degeneres, James Corden or Jimmy Fallon brought to their TV shows, it couldn't hold a flickering candle to the entertainment value of hearing their staff members savage them for being assholes. Which is where Marshall finds himself at the moment. 

His podcast I Am Athlete has been a success by almost any standard. Marshall sat down with Cam Newton on his podcast and admitted he's had dreams of being able to turn it into a $640 million operation like Barstool:

Along with a lot of success, Marshall's show has had a lot of cohosts. Lots. Of. Cohosts. 

It's had more turnover than the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts. And none of them were particularly pleased with the experience. Or with Marshall:

Baller Alert - Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder are firing back at Brandon Marshall over his recent comments about their exit from “I Am Athlete.” 

On the latest episode of “The Pivot,” Taylor … says the ex-football star is not being truthful about the fallout with his former co-hosts. 

“A lot of people would agree that he’s embarrassing himself. A lot of lying, a lot of manipulative movements, pretty much how he was with everyone he’s encountered,” Taylor shared just before the 4min mark.

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He also pointed out that all of “I Am Athlete’s” previous co-hosts, such as Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson, Adam “Pacman” Jones, and Lesean “Shady” McCoy have all distanced themselves from Marshall. Taylor added, “If you stood for anything, if your integrity was high, then people would still rock with you, but nobody’s there right now.”

Crowder … took issue with Marshall suggesting that he played a role in Crowder’s success.

“How you make me when I made your podcast, or our podcast, supposedly, but it wasn’t really ours, as we found out. Then, go to another one, create another thing that blows up bigger than that even was. That’s the thing that got hot about me. B***h, you ain’t make me,” Crowder stated.

From the outside looking in, it's hard to gauge who's side to take here. Other than liking Fred Taylor when he was ending his career in New England, and Ryan Clark comparing the Patriots head coach to the Creator of the universe, I have no personal dog in this fight. 

On the one hand, Marshall had the same reputation for being difficult to work with when he was actively going out of his way to undermine everything Josh McDaniels was doing. On the other hand, as we now know for sure, Head Coach McDaniels isn't getting any World's Best Boss mugs for Christmas. Besides, taking Marshall at his word, losing that much of his own money on a business enterprise buys him the right to bust $12 million worth of balls. In fact, it gives you the fiduciary obligation to. 

But on the other other hand, a podcast is not some castle operating under the Feudal System. Your cohosts aren't indentured servants. If they're not having a good time or getting paid commensurate with the amount of bullshit you're making them put up with, there are plenty of other former players, microphones and web cams where you came from. And based on some of the clips that are out there, doing I Am Athlete with Marshall was not worth the aggravation:

One thing we do know for sure is that former co-workers slamming each other is always good for business. And so in all likelihood, this beef is not getting squashed any time soon. Then we all win. Stay tuned for the next installment because this drama isn't going away.