Dolloff: Patriots Criticism Getting Absurd With Cassius Marsh Comments

By Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com

Bill Belichick and the Patriots aren't totally above criticism. No professional sports organization is. But when it comes to guys like Cassius Marsh, they're damn close.

It's no use bloviating for 1,000-plus words on why Marsh's criticisms of the Patriots are so misguided and so obviously weak on his part. It'd be a waste of time and effort to go on about why the Patriots' approach is truly what it takes to win more than one Super Bowl, let alone achieve as much as they have with Belichick and Tom Brady. It's a given, and it's not for everybody. Obviously it wasn't for Marsh.

But at some point, you have to consider the ring-less, inconsequential source. Marsh shouldn't be getting the attention he's gotten for his harsh criticisms of the Patriots and his time in New England, because he's barely an NFL-caliber player who has won just about nothing in his career. But for that same reason, he shouldn't be talking at all.

With Marsh, the barbs launched at the Patriots from within the NFL have now reached the level of absurdist comedy. They've waded out of this swampy offseason and trudged into the territory of self-parody.

Lane Johnson's continued crusade against the Pats at least holds a trickle of water. He and the Eagles offensive line dominated in the trenches in Super Bowl LII, and they won the thing. Johnson at least has some hardware to speak of. Marsh? That's a whole new level of stay-in-your-lane silliness. It's a "the adults are talking" situation unlike almost anything we've seen in the Belichick era.

Just to refresh, Marsh spoke about how much he's appreciated now that he's with the San Francisco 49ers. He used that appreciation to rip Belichick and the Patriots for (stop if you've heard this before) a lack of enjoyability.

"They don’t have fun there," Marsh said. "There’s nothing fun about it. There’s nothing happy about it. I didn’t enjoy any of my time there, you know what I’m saying? It made me for the first time in my life think about not playing football because I hated it that much."

Marsh, who played nine games for the Patriots and registered just one sack while getting only one start, also admitted he had the gall to question Belichick about how he was being used.

"I confronted [Belichick] about all the things that were going on," he continued. "I won’t get into detail, but it was B.S. things they were doing. I just wasn’t a fan. And so I, basically, without asking to get cut, I kind of asked to get cut."

So, Marsh got his wish. See you later.

Funnily enough, his latest comments are pretty much the polar opposite of what he told Jeff Howe back in November:

Naturally, the defensive end got all kinds of blowback from New England fans in the wake of his comments being published. Much like Johnson has only sustained his assault, Marsh doubled down in an Instagram story.

"I just want to address all you Patriots fans who don’t like this new article," Marsh said, via USA Today. "I’m sorry to hurt your feelings. Seems to be breaking your heart. But if you can’t handle the truth, stay off my page. Don’t read articles. That’s how I felt. That’s how I still feel and I’m grateful to be away from there."

The problem with Marsh's comments isn't that they're not "the truth", or that they upset people. Playing for the Patriots is hard. It's not meant to be fun. That's how you win five Super Bo-

Sorry, cutting off that rant before it really gets rolling. The problem with Marsh is that he's Cassius Marsh. He's utterly insignificant. He's a special teams player and borderline rotational pass rusher. He grabbed two sacks in six games for the Niners last season, none of them starts.

Hey, at least he had fun.

Before this goes on too long, let's just agree that comments like these shouldn't be taken too seriously. Especially when they come from the mouth of someone like Cassius Marsh. At least Lane Johnson backed up his talk and has a ring to show for it. Let New England know when someone who's accomplished anything within the stratosphere of the Patriots has something to say about their culture. Because when they come from a bottom-of-the-roster player who can barely stick on an NFL team, they couldn't mean less. And his words shouldn't be spewing from his mouth in the first place.

Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or email him at matthew.dolloff@bbgi.com.