Arthur Marshall, the speedy wide receiver who arrived in Denver as an undrafted free agent and quickly became a reliable target and trick-play threat for the Broncos, died Wednesday. He was 57.
Marshall died Sept. 2 after reportedly battling stomach cancer.
The Georgia native first made his name at Hephzibah High School, graduating in 1987 as one of the Augusta-area’s standout players. Those performances earned him a scholarship to the University of Georgia, where he played from 1988 to 1991.
At Georgia he finished with 67 receptions for 1,186 yards and four touchdowns. As a senior he caught 39 passes for 524 yards on a 9-3 Bulldogs team that finished No. 19 in The Associated Press poll. He also returned 15 kickoffs for 347 yards that season.
A broken leg during his junior year required a rod and later limited his draft stock.
The Broncos signed Marshall in May 1992. He rewarded them immediately. In his rookie season he caught 26 passes for 493 yards and a touchdown and earned a spot on the All-Rookie team.
The following year Marshall started nine of 16 games. He posted a career-high 28 receptions for 360 yards and two touchdowns while adding 15 kickoff returns for 249 yards.
In his only playoff appearance with Denver, a 1993 wild-card game, Marshall hauled in five passes for 69 yards, four of them for first downs.
Marshall also showed a flair for the unexpected in Broncos orange. He completed two touchdown passes in his career, including an 81-yard strike that broke an NFL record for the longest touchdown pass by a non-quarterback.
That 81-yard completion came against Dallas in 1992 and went to teammate Cedric Tillman. A year later he added a 30-yard scoring toss.
In April 1994 the Broncos traded Marshall to the New York Giants. He appeared in 36 games over three seasons with New York before retiring.
Marshall finished his five-year NFL career with 87 receptions for 1,267 yards and four touchdowns in 68 regular-season games.
Years after he left the field, federal authorities in 2009 arrested Marshall on charges of bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, alleging he used false information to obtain more than $1 million in real-estate loans. He pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and was sentenced to 69 months in federal prison, five years of supervised release and more than $3.6 million in restitution.
For Broncos fans of the early 1990s, Marshall remains the undrafted receiver who produced in a hurry, returned kicks, and once in a while took the snap himself and launched a long ball downfield at Mile High.
