NFL Spotlight: Saints’ Marques Colston, A Silent but Deadly Receiver
When Marques Colston finally gets to the Pro Bowl, and he certainly will, he will emerge as the most powerful and purest wide receiver in the history of the NFL.
“There’s no 'throw me the ball' from Marques,’’ New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees said Sunday.
Even with no ‘throw me the ball’ attitude, Colston made two touchdown receptions in their win over the St. Louis Rams, 31-13.
This single trait might be enough to set Colston apart from any other wide receiver. Any quarterback in the NFL will tell you that they have yet to meet a receiver who does not insist that he was open on every single play.
“The only time Marques talks is if he gets mad at himself, or coach [Sean Payton] asks him to break down the huddle,’’ defensive back Malcolm Jenkins said.
Contrary to popular belief, there actually is one star receiver who lets his skills do the talking. Colston has been playing pro for five years now, hailing from Hofstra University. He is five yards away from attaining 5,000 career receiving yards.
Opponents, teammates, and coaches will all tell you that Colston is definitely Pro Bowl material. They will tell you that he is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, but is too modest and humble to tell you how good he is.
In reality, when he walked in for an interview on Sunday, he started telling reporters about how badly he performed.
“From the second quarter on, I didn’t play well,’’ Colston said.
Well, it is true that Colston made both of his touchdown receptions in the first quarter and also failed to catch a couple of good passes later on, but he did have five catches for 46 yards. The Saints took hold of the game following Colston’s second touchdown.
Even when reporters tried to get a hold of Colston before their game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he avoided the locker room, and, unluckily, ran into a couple of reporters the next day outside of the training room.
All he said, very politely, was “I know where you’re going and I respect that. But I’d rather stay out of that fray."
The “fray” was obviously the top story of the week. The reporters wanted to know what he thought of Cincinnati’s spotlight-loving receivers Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens against Colston, who is the exact opposite of both of them.
A general rule in the NFL is that the more a receiver talks, the better he is. Receivers that come to mind include Roddy White, Randy Moss, and Michael Irvin to name a few. Others such as Marvin Harrison and Jerry Rice were viewed as players who did not
seek attention, but those who knew them better told that they were just like the rest of them.
“Unfortunately, people want to listen to them,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.
The statement in question was about Ochocinco and Owens, but Lewis’ statement could be true for almost any receiver in the league.
“They don’t have much substance to say very often, particularly when they leave here,’’ Lewis said. “They do have an audience for some reason.”
Wide receivers love attention. When Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson were together on the Carolina Panthers team, it was certain that both would be sitting in the locker room, waiting for reporters who loved to lavish over the star receivers. Once in a while,
one of them reprimanded a reporter for using more quotes from the other receiver.
There is also a great story about Chad Johnson. Never heard of him? Well, he legally changed his last name to Ochocinco. But what does Ochocinco mean? “Ocho” in Spanish means the number “eight,” while “cinco” means “five.” What does 85 have to do with Chad?
It’s his jersey number.
Talk about arrogant.
But there is nothing like that at all in Colston. He avoids the media as best as he can, and when he is forced he talk, he keeps it short, sweet, and to the point.
The Saints will play against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday December 19.
Stay tuned!
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