It was a few minutes before the big event, and as people stamped in from the cold and wet, a former NFL tight end mopped the slush off the floor.
Darcy Johnson, 31, who wore number 84 for the New York Giants of five years past, had a big friendly smile on his face Saturday, Jan. 10, like everybody else working for FitSpeed, 1885 Holste Road, Northbrook, at its grand opening.
Johnson’s the director of development and operations of a 10,0000-square-foot operation designed mainly to teach athletes, genuine or junior, how to be faster and stronger.
“We call this one The Beast,” he said, resting his hand on a $60,000 treadmill that recalls the look of an M1 Abrams battle tank. He noted that it could be set at a grade of 35 percent and a top speed of 25 miles an hour.
One of his bosses, Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall – also nicknamed The Beast – can be seen getting one of these machines up to 24 miles per hour on the website of the Weston, Fla., FitSpeed, which opened in 2011.
A few minutes later, Marshall walks in with his wife, Michi Nogami-Marshall, carrying car seats containing their twin babies, born in December.
Marshall is tall, but comparatively slim, leading Northbrook Village President Sandy Frum to remark later that the burlier Johnson looks more like a football player than Marshall does.
Marshall, has had many days, however, where he gained more yardage than Johnson did in his entire four-year career. He holds the NFL record for most receptions in a game.
It is Marshall that everyone has come to see – or, in some cases, to be seen while others are seeing him.
Many people affiliated with sports filed in and out of the building Saturday, looking to enhance their action.
Artist Cory Cravatta stopped in the snow on the way in when he saw some press identification, and struggled to open his portfolio case zipper. Inside was his lifelike drawing of Marshall wearing Chicago Bears number 15, which he intended to get autographed and show around. He had driven 52 miles from Genoa, Ill.
Business was good after the Chicago Blackhawks won their last Stanley Cup two years ago, he said.
“It’s kind of slow now,” he added, especially with pictures of Bears, who just finished a spectacularly bad season. “I could really use some publicity.”
Marshall, speaking to the gathering, apologized for that 5-11 last-place finish. He said not only the fans, but “the McCaskeys deserved better.”
He said later that he was not paying attention to rumors that he would be traded before the Bears’ first huddle of 2015.
“I don’t think anything about that. I had a lot of production in the last few years. It’s just been awesome to be a part of the last two years,” he said. “I signed a big contract the last year, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to finish it up.”
Marshall has two years to go on a $30 million contract.
Saturday, there was nothing like the reported railing against the weak play of teammates that he reportedly let loose in the locker room after a week seven loss to Miami. That incident is linked to the rumors of a trade, which would be the spectacular receiver’s third in five years, though Marshall may be one of the best receivers any of his teams have ever had.
Some observers marked the locker room outburst as a positive moment, though it was followed by the Bears losing seven of the nine remaining games.
Saturday was a family-friendly occasion, with Marshall saying that in February his foundation will link with Lurie Children’s Hospital for a mental health program in Chicago Public Schools.
“Something I was always taught, whether you’re a teacher, a janitor or an NFL player – that’s an opportunity to pour into someone’s life, positively or negatively,” Marshall said. “A teacher for example: How many people will that teacher affect? That’s the same thing here at FitSpeed.
“We believe every kid that comes in here, that’s an opportunity to pour into his life to make him or her other a better athlete. An opportunity to pour in life, skills and tools to make him a better sportsman, and also integrity and character.”
Frum was impressed. “He was really nice, and he talks to the kids really well,” she said.
She was surprised to hear that his public life had been marked by arrests involving domestic violence and drunken driving. He’s been suspended from his work, but never convicted in court of any domestic charge.
Matt Gates, the other man behind FitSpeed, has trained Marshall off-season for a decade, and is his friend year-round. He may be partly responsible for the persona that can now charm dozens of people in a wealthy North Shore town.
“A lot of my success is because of this guy,” Marshall said of Gates. “The highest moments, the lowest moments, he was there for me.”
Gates said later, “Honestly, he found Christ. That’s a big part of it. He’s got his nose in the Bible.”
That’s a big part of their now two-location business, he said.
“It’s from an employee standpoint,” he said. “We don’t espouse it. It’s the way we run our lives.”
It must not have been easy. Two months after Marshall and his wife publicly accepted Christ into their lives in 2011, she was arrested on an aggravated battery charge at their home, according to Tribune reports. Reports indicated she had a bruise on her cheek, and he had several knife wounds. Charges were dropped.
Later in 2011, Marshall reportedly confirmed his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, and eventually created his Brandon Marshall Foundation, which has a mission revolving around mental health issues. After he signed his Bears contract, he wrote a $1 million check to the foundation.
He said the program he plans to partner with at the children’s hospital is called Project Prevent, but he wouldn’t give details, other than to say it’s “a retail program” embracing “everything from programming to teaching them about stigma.”
“There are so many things you can do in the community,” he said. “It costs $77,000 to support an inmate who may be suffering or dealing with something. It costs $25,000 to treat a whole school.”
Project Prevent is the name of a U.S. Department of Education grant program that “provides funding to (schools) to increase their capacity both to identify, assess, and serve students exposed to pervasive violence, helping to ensure that affected students are offered mental health services for trauma or anxiety; support conflict resolution programs; and implement other school-based violence prevention strategies in order to reduce the likelihood that these students will later commit violent acts,” according to the federal website dedicated to it.
As a youth, Marshall’s own family life was marked by domestic violence, according to Tribune reports, though Marshall declined to comment on it.
Marshall claims to have received more than friendship from his relationship with Gates – years ago, his training helped him take .3 seconds off his 40-yard dash. Gates says he can typically help an athlete take more than .2 seconds off his or her time.
“People used to think you were born fast or slow, and that’s not the case,” Gates said. “You absolutely can teach speed.”
Marshall said that he and his family plan to stay in town this off-season, but leave the management of the operation mainly to the professionals.
“We just had the babies,” he said. “All the support, the nursery, is here, so we’ll be here the majority of the off-season.
“But you’ll just see me behind some weight, doing some training.”