Wilbur Marhshall - Where is he now?

Remember how awesome Wilbur Marshall was for us during the late 80's and early 90's. Anybody have any idea what he is doing now? You never hear anything about the guy anymore.?

he was one of my favorites... It would be nice to find out what he's doin, if hes still involved with the game

i have no idea, but remember when he picked up Andre' Reed buy his jock strap (wedgie style) in SB26. Now that was awesome.

From Wikipedia.....

Marshall’s years of excellence were slowly eroded by the numerous injuries from his professional career. His health declined as the years progressed, but he refused to receive surgery to mend his injured spine, shoulders, and knees. Permanently disabled, Marshall’s days of battling other players have been replaced with days of fighting with the NFL and the players' union over a settlement pertaining to his injuries. His former coach, Mike Ditka, has aided in Marshall’s fight by forming a coalition to raise additional awareness.

Last I heard he was involved in a legal battle with the NFLPA over injury settlements and pension. He has had a lot of health problems since retiring.

Does he ever come out for autograph signings anywhere?

http://www.theredskinreport.com/2008/01/16/ex-redskin-wilbur-marshall-wins-case-against-nfl-again/

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Monk, Green, Grimm - Canton Bound?Hall of Fame Voting - Feb 2, 2008Wednesday, January 16th, 2008...10:04 pm by Bill

Ex-Redskin Wilbur Marshall wins case against NFL - again

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Bill here. First off, a disclaimer: some of you may be young enough as Redskins fans to not know who Wilbur Marshall is (in which case, you probably never understood the hoopla about Joe Gibbs, or why Green, Monk, and Grimm being HOF candidates is exciting). However, I actually have a … well, not personal link to Marshall, but a personal link to a person who has a personal link to Marshall; or rather, to the change that allowed Marshall to become a Washington Redskin, which I’m going to explain before I give you the real story here, so bare with me.

Wilbur Marshall was drafted into the NFL in 1984 by the Mike Ditka’s Chicago Bears, and was one of the main cogs (with Richard Dent) of the fearsome Chicago Defense of the mid 1980s that propelled them to their only Superbowl Victory. Marshall was paid like the star linebacker that he was; however, that was in the mid 1980s; while there was no salary cap, per se, there was also no competition among teams for the services of a player. In those days, you were the property of the team that drafted you until and unless some other team traded for you. While there WERE such things as Free Agents, those were the players that were either not drafted, or had been cut by their team. Stars didn’t move and the earth was the motionless center of the universe. In other words, that was a totally different era in building franchises: you traded to Win Now, Baby! or you built through the draft and shrewd undrafted free agent pickups. Marshall was not happy with that situation (well, almost no player was, but Marshall was a star who could do something about it). Along with one of my old friends, and a former High School Classmate, Minnesota Viking Running Back D.J. Dozier (the runner up for the 1986 Heisman from Penn State), which is my personal connection to this story, and one other player (who I’m sure someone will name in the comments, but who’s name escapes me now) sued the NFL over the issue of “illegal restraint of employment” or something close to that; basically, they sued the NFL when their contracts were up in 1988 to become unrestricted Free Agents… and WON. The resulting victory resulted in a short lived Free Agency that existed in most cases in name only, “Plan B”. Theoretically, Plan B Free Agency still exists, although it’s been vastly modified. In practice, it’s been replaced by the part of Free Agency that allows teams to declare Franchise and Transition Tags on players. Wilbur Marshall was the first Free Agent, signing with the Washington Redskins, who promptly and gladly paid the princely sum of two first round draft picks to Chicago. D.J. and the other player were not so fortunate; D.J.’s history of injuries limited whether any team would sign a running back, even a dynamic one such as him, for that kind of price, and with an incentive to “punish” those players who had created this potentially leaky franchise mechanism (and remember, in an era of no salary caps, this was a potentially back breaking loss by the NFL owners), the two of them were effectively blackballed out of the NFL; no team would contract them, even their former teams (which obviously would not have had to pay the picks). Don’t feel too bad for D.J., though, as he knocked around in the Kansas City Royal’s baseball organisation for a number of years after that.

But back to Wilbur Marshall. After Washington’s 1992 Superbowl victory, Marshall only played one additional year as a Redskin; with the advent of true free agency after the 1992 (and the loss of Coach Gibbs in the spring of 1993), Marshall moved on. He knocked around for an additional 3 years (never more than a single year per team, however), until he was physically too broken up to play…. and that leads us to why Marshall sued the NFL again. When he retired, Marshall’s physical condition was bad enough that he applied for, and was given, disability by the NFL two years later. However, after he had collected disability for a while, Marshall got caught in dueling doctor’s prognosis; at certain times, doctors confirmed his disabilty, at others, they claimed he could do sedentary work. The loss of income cause Marshall to declare bankruptcy (as an aside, why is it that these well paid athletes so often have monetary troubles ten years after their career ends? Marshall made millions while playing over his 12 year career) in 2002.

Eventually, Marshall got a lawyer and sued. And for the second time, he’s emerged from the courtroom vindicated. While the NFL has lost numerous court cases, Marshall joins Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis as the only man who’s won two different court cases against the NFL. This time, there’s no big contract for Marshall, just a check for $72,000 plus court costs and lawyers fees…. and the satisfaction of knowing that he’s right. Oh, and a big Redskin Report Salute to one of the 1980s classic Redskins…. and for my dad, who has always been a Redskin Fan and a Chicago Bears Fan, I’ll close with his favorite line everytime Marshall nailed a quarterback…. “WILBURrrrrrrrrr!”

Here's what I found. I read an article about him not too long ago, but I couldn't find it. He's basically disabled and and trying to get the NFL to pay his expenses. It sucks to see such a great player living disabled.

It is sad to see him go down hill physically. He was one of my fav's when he played with us.

Still my favorite player of all time. He led our super Bowl Defense in 91-92.

Sacks, Ints, Tackles, you name he did it!

Charles Mann toldme that he still keeps in touch with Wilbur. He lives in VA. He said it was sadthat the NFL won't give Wilbur his money due for disability.

One of my favs also. I cleaned his horse's stalls for an autographed football. My wife had the nerve to offer that football to my 2 year old nephew (just to play with). I put an end to that real quick.

Wilbur Marshall is without a doubt one of my all time favorite linebackers, let alone, Redskins. He was my favorite player I always had to pick on Tecmo Bowl. (Keep in mind my age, lol) But I just remember how he dominated and led his defenses with so much heart. I loved him as a Redskin, and even liked him as a Bear. He played a large part of how I got into watching, and eventually playing football (LB ). I still remember the Superbowl Shuffle with a big smile on my face. And that '91 season is the season by which I find myself comparing all other players to, thinking they have to perform like Wilbur and the rest of the Redskins players that year on that team to measure up.

It's sad and frustrating to me to hear what has happened to him. This is a man who laid EVERYTHING (litterally) on the line every down he played to perform and support his team and every NFL fan watching the game. The least the NFL could do is provide pension and take care of these players who have paved the way and made it the multi-billion dollar business industry that it is today. They sacrificed their own bodies for it. The NFL OWES them!! :mad:

One of my favs also. I cleaned his horse's stalls for an autographed football. My wife had the nerve to offer that football to my 2 year old nephew (just to play with). I put an end to that real quick.

Which one? The wife or the nephew? And where did you bury him/her?

Just axin'. :laugh:

My parents are members at River Bend CC in Great Falls, as is Wilbur. I have played golf with Wilbur probably 10 times as recently as last summer. He plays by himself a lot, certainly looks to be in a lot of pain whenever he walks, but always seems to be in a upbeat mood whenever you talk to him. Suprisingly he really doesn't talk much about the game, skins, NFL. The last time I played with him he was getting ready to return to Florida for a alumni thing.

All and all Wilbur is good, I know of this battles with the NFL, and its unfortunent that these types of things go on.

He also absolutly murders the golf ball..

Remember how awesome Wilbur Marshall was for us during the late 80's and early 90's. Anybody have any idea what he is doing now? You never hear anything about the guy anymore.?

The dude was sick. The best LB the Skins have ever had - a shame they cast him off in '93... and then Tagliabue screwed the Skins on the Trade to the Oilers.

He was rightfully on the the Greatest 70 Skins squad in 2002. I wish they would have signed him to a day contract so he could retire a Skin and then get him into the HOF where he belongs.

Which one? The wife or the nephew? And where did you bury him/her?

Just axin'. :laugh:

I stopped her before any damage could be done, but it start a small argument that I would not back down from, which is rare.

The NFL won't even give him money to pay for his disabilities. There's no way he would have made the HOF. Damn NFL

Saw Wilber at an autograph show a couple years ago nad he was having trouble walking and the promoter said he can only sit in a chair for a limited time without having to stand up. What a shame because he was as cut as any LB I've ever seen

Hell of a good post. Informative (and sad).

When I was seven, I went to get his autograph at RFK where all the players went after their showers. He was a popular player so everyone wanted his signature, but I was small and getting knocked around. He said to the crowd in a very mean and clam deep voice: "Don't Push." He then signed my big foam finger and over everyone else to get me out of there. I will never forget that moment as long as i live. I have a picture somewhere of that.