Retired NFL star Brandon Marshall has gone viral with a polarizing social media post showing his son being punished with a 2am jog as the six-time Pro Bowler recorded the scene from the comfort of his car.
‘This is my son,’ Marshall wrote in the caption, ‘not my friend.’
Throughout the video, the 42-year-old All-Pro receiver is heard pushing the boy to run faster and even threatening to make him run further if he doesn’t pick up his pace.
‘It’s no different than when we were in LA, Santa Monica, running at midnight on the pier,’ Marshall said as the visibly sleepy boy slowly made his way through a residential area. ‘We wanted to do that; we love to do that.
‘If you don’t start running, we’re gonna go three miles, so you better start running,’ Marshall continued from off camera while recording and driving slowly alongside his son.
Ultimately the boy is able to reach 6mph, but not until after a few more remarks from his father.
Brandon Marshall’s son is seen running through a residential area in the pre-dawn hours
Brandon Marshall divided his followers over the post, which some saw as ‘click bait’
‘You should be going at 8 or 9 miles per hour right now,’ Marshall said. ‘If this truck don’t get to nine miles per hour, I promise you, we’re going all the way to the gas station, which is three miles down and back… There we go. Now we moving.’
The decision to force a boy into the streets for an unwanted jog angered many fans, including one who saw the punishment as child abuse.
‘This is emotional, verbal and physical abuse,’ they wrote. ‘This public humiliation should be reported to Child Protective Services. Not okay to do this to this child. There are better ways to teach a lesson to your child.’
Many others objected to Marshall’s decision to post the punishment online rather than keep it inside the family.
‘That’s family business, not instagram business,’ one critic wrote.
‘And this is on social media because?’ another asked.
One follower suggested Marshall ‘get out and run with him,’ adding: ‘Discipline him, but don’t use him for click bait.’
Marshall was accused of abuse and posting ‘click bait’ over the divisive Instagram video
Many parents felt Marshall’s punishment was fine, but the Instagram post was a misstep
Not all the reactions were negastive. Many followers felt Marshall was doing right by his son
Another parent offered particularly constructive criticism.
‘You should NEVER discipline a child with embarrassment it messes up their mental health state,’ they wrote. ‘Kids are people too. This is so lame. It didn’t need to be public if this is how you wanted to discipline that’s fine. You did this to show off on the internet. I hope you take this down. And I read some of your comments learn how to take constructive criticism my guy. Most of us aren’t trying to hurt you just giving good feedback. Take care.’
But the responses weren’t all negative. Marshall, a father of three, was commended by many for disciplining his son.
‘Yall acting like this is hurting HIS SON,’ wrote one defender. ‘He’s teaching. Correcting behaviors before the streets do.’
The ‘streets’ in this case appear to be a gated community in South Florida, where Marshall has lived since his decorated NFL career ended in 2018.
