…speed and athleticism,” Johnson continued. “He’s a tackling machine, a sideline-to-sideline player who tackles with more impact than most guys much bigger than him. I mean, he was everything you wanted in a linebacker.”
It is not unheard of for undrafted free agents to make the team and have long careers in the NFL, with Kurt Warner, Willie Brown and Warren Moon all reaching the Hall of Fame despite being passed over in the draft, but it is a battle most do not win.
But if Marley does become a fixture in the NFL, he would like to do so on his own merit, rather than relying on his family name.
‘I always wanted to make something for myself,’ he said during a Sports Illustrated interview in 2014.
‘I’ve never said, “I’m gonna do it like my dad did it,” or “I want to be like my grandfather.”
‘Every individual is supposed to have something he wants to go get, something he wants so bad he don’t need anybody’s help. That’s what I get from my father and grandfather.’