Death and football highlights
Arthur Marshall, the former Denver Broncos and New York Giants receiver, has died at age 57 after a battle with stomach cancer, Yahoo! News reported, citing local Georgia outlet FOX 54.
Marshall began his football career at the University of Georgia and closed out his senior season with 39 receptions for 524 yards before entering the 1992 NFL period as an undrafted free agent.
Signed by the Broncos, Marshall produced 853 receiving yards and three touchdowns in Denver. As a rookie in December 1992, he completed an 81-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman against the Dallas Cowboys, tying the NFL mark set by Gary Hammond in 1974 for the longest completed pass by a non-quarterback. The play briefly gave Denver the lead in the game and remains one of the longest non-quarterback completions in league history; it was later equaled by Pittsburgh’s Josh Miller in 2003 but not surpassed.
By 1994 Marshall was traded to the New York Giants, where he spent three seasons and added 414 receiving yards and one touchdown between 1994 and 1996 before retiring from the league.
Off-field life, struggles and legacy
Marshall’s life after football included public legal difficulties. In 2009 he was sentenced to 69 months in prison and ordered to pay $3.6 million to victims following a 22-count indictment related to mortgage fraud, the New York Post reported.
His obituary painted a different — and fuller — portrait of a man remembered for generosity and faith. “He made a difference, whether it was offense, defense or special teams,” the obituary read, and added that Marshall “carried strength and determination throughout his life” while being best known to friends and family “for the size of his heart.”
Marshall was described as a husband to his wife Lena, a father to Arthur and Aubern, and a proud grandfather to six grandsons. The obituary said he was “a giver by nature — generous with his time, love, encouragement and support,” and that he enjoyed simple pleasures like watching movies, spending time with family and taking evening strolls along the beach. It also noted that his faith in God remained central to his life.
Marshall’s 81-yard touchdown pass, his path from Georgia to the NFL, and the complicated chapters that followed combine to form a career and life that drew attention for both athletic achievement and human dimensions off the field. His obituary concluded that he “will be deeply missed, forever loved, and remembered in the hearts of everyone blessed to know him.”
