Columbus Destroyers
On November 2, 2007, Rasheed Marshall left the Rams practice squad to join the Columbus Destroyers roster of the Arena Football League. Marshall was listed as a wide receiver. In the first game of the season, a 50-47 loss to the Colorado Crush, Rasheed Marshall caught five passes for 68 yards and a 33-yard touchdown, his first score coming in his Arena League debut. He also had one rush for five yards. In the third game of the season, a 59-57 loss to the Cleveland Gladiators, Marshall recorded three receptions for 39 yards and two touchdowns. He followed up with three receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown and six kickoff returns for 130 yards and a touchdown in the 52-49 victory over the Utah Blaze. The game saw Marshall's first appearances as the team's kick returner. Marshall finished out the month of March with six receptions for 32 yards and 4 returns for 92 yards in a 44-47 loss to the Orlando Predators.
Marshall and the Destroyers opened up April with a 51-49 victory over the Tampa Bay Storm, where he recorded only three kick returns for 40 yards. In the following 62-44 loss to the New York Dragons, Marshall recorded 6 receptions for 92 yards with a score and six kickoff returns for 159 yards and a 57-yard touchdown return. After the game, Marshall ranked first in the AFL in kickoff return percentage with 21.3 yards per return, second in the league among rookies with 686 all-purpose yards, third among rookies with 42 points, and fourth among rookies with 24 receptions at that point in the season.
After missing the Philadelphia Soul game due to an injury, Marshall returned for the 45-48 loss to the Dallas Desperados, where he had 6 kick returns for 108 yards. Five weeks later in a 63-34 loss to the Georgia Force, Marshall returned eights kickoffs for 116 yards and had 3 receptions for 24 yards. In the following 63-60 loss to the Grand Rapids Rampage, Marshall had only two kick returns for 17 yards but did score a two-point conversion rush. Marshall finished out his rookie season with three kick returns for 57 yards.
Marshall finished out his rookie season with 31 receptions for 336 yards and five touchdowns. He also had seven rushes for 10 yards and a touchdown, and 54 returns for 941 yards and two touchdowns. Following his rookie campaign, Marshall's contract ended with the Destroyers and he entered the free agent market.
Read more about this topic: Rasheed Marshall, Professional Career, Arena Football League
Famous quotes containing the words columbus and/or destroyers:
“Why is it that many contemporary male thinkers, especially men of color, repudiate the imperialist legacy of Columbus but affirm dimensions of that legacy by their refusal to repudiate patriarchy?”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“Armies, though always the supporters and tools of absolute power for the time being, are always the destroyers of it too; by frequently changing the hands in which they think proper to lodge it.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)