Rasheed Malik Marshall (born July 11, 1981) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

wide receiver. He was drafted by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the 5th round (174th overall) of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also hel ...

. He played college football for

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

. He was also a member of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

and the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fold ...

High school career

Marshall prepped at Brashear High School in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

. Marshall threw for over 3,000 yards in 2 years and was rated #10 quarterback in the nation by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in 1998. After graduation, he attended

Valley Forge Military Academy Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) is a private boarding school (grades 7–12) and military junior college in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It follows in the traditional military school format with army traditions. Though military in t ...

where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

, and

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dutie ...

. He was a team captain in football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

College career

In 2000, he was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. He saw action in only five games, missing eight weeks with a broken bone in his wrist. Marshall totaled 327 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 210 yards. In 2002, he took over the team's quarterback duties, racking up a 53.7 completion percentage for 1,616 yards, nine scores and five interceptions, also rushing 173 times for 666 yards (3.8 average) and 13

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

. In 2003, he was injured with a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentratio ...

for the season opener against

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, but ended up with a 50.7 completion percentage for 1,729 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions, also carrying 101 times for 303 yards (2.3 average) and four scores. He also gained 173 yards on six punt returns. Marshall had his career-high passing game that season, with 271 yards against

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States * Syracuse, New York ** East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

. He was named

Big East Offensive Player of the Year The Big East Conference gave five football awards at the conclusion of every season. The awards were first given in 1991 following the conference's first football season, and last given in 2012 before the conference was restructured as the American ...

in his senior year, 2004, with a 59.5 percentage. He completed the year with 1,426 yards and 16 TD vs 6 INT passing while running for 684 yards and 4 TD on 130 carries. Marshall played the post-season Gridiron Classic as a receiver, which interested the pro

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

s. Rasheed Marshall totaled 5,558 yards passing with 45 touchdowns and 26 interceptions for his career at West Virginia. Only

Marc Bulger Marc Robert Bulger (; born April 5, 1977) is a retired American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth ro ...

Geno Smith Eugene Cyril "Geno" Smith III (born October 10, 1990) is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at West Virginia, leading the Mountaineers to multiple bowl gam ...

, Pat White, Chad Johnston and

Oliver Luck Oliver Francis Luck (born April 5, 1960) is an American business executive and former football quarterback. He is currently the executive director of the ASUN–WAC Football Conference (tentative name), a new NCAA Division I Football Championship ...

threw for more yards in West Virginia records than Marshall's 5,558 yards, while Marshall's 45 touchdowns are fourth to Marc Bulger's 59, Pat White's 56 and Geno Smith's 56 at West Virginia. Rasheed's 2,040 yards rushing ranks third in school history for rushing yards for a quarterback, second to Major Harris and Pat White, respectively, while his 24 rushing touchdowns ranks second all-time at West Virginia for a quarterback behind Pat White. Marshall's 69 total touchdowns scored in his career was a school record, before Pat White broke it in 2007.

Professional career

National Football League

Rasheed Marshall was selected in the fifth round, 174 overall by the

in the

. During

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

, Rasheed Marshall underwent the process of being converted from quarterback, his college position, to receiver. Rasheed Marshall recorded one reception for -1 yards and a rush for -7 yards. He played most of the 2005 NFL season as a kick returner, however. He registered 488 yards on

kick return A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

s in 2005, and 87 punt return yards. He was released by the 49ers on September 2, 2006 and was then signed by his home-town team, the

on January 12, 2007. He was cut shortly after on August 8, of the same year. On August 15, 2007, Marshall was then picked up by the

Arena Football League

Columbus Destroyers

On November 2, 2007, Rasheed Marshall left the Rams practice squad to join the

roster of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. Marshall was listed as a wide receiver.Columbus Destroyers Official Site
/ref> In the first game of the season, a 50-47 loss to the

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspend ...

, 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 The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cav ...

, 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 Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did not submit proper do ...

. 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 The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played it ...

. Marshall and the Destroyers opened up April with a 51-49 victory over the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

, where he recorded only three kick returns for 40 yards. In the following 62-44 loss to the

New York Dragons The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded in ...

, 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 Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

game due to an injury, Marshall returned for the 48-45 loss to the

Dallas Desperados The Dallas Desperados were a professional arena football team based in Dallas, Texas. The Desperados played in the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League from 2002 to 2008. The franchise began play in as an expansion team, and have post ...

, where he had 6 kick returns for 108 yards. Five weeks later in a 63-34 loss to the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

, 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 The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...

, 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Rasheed 1981 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Columbus Destroyers players Pittsburgh Steelers players San Francisco 49ers players St. Louis Rams players West Virginia Mountaineers football players Players of American football from Pittsburgh Valley Forge Military Academy Trojans football players