Former NFL star Brandon Marshall is facing backlash after sharing a video showing him disciplining his son in the early hours of the morning.
The footage shows Marshall driving alongside his son, who is seen running down a neighborhood street at around 2 a.m.
“This is my son not my friend…” Marshall wrote in the caption.
As his son ran, Marshall explained that it was a lesson in discipline.
“Discipline correction is good, even at two in the morning,” he said. “I’m training you up to be a warrior. I’m training you to be a leader, to serve, to have discipline. To be better than me.”
Marshall went on to tell his son that late-night runs were nothing new for them.
“It’s no different than when we were in LA, Santa Monica, running at midnight on the pier. We wanted to do that. We love to do that,” he said.
At another point, the athlete told his son to pick up his pace.
“If you don’t start running, we’re gonna go three miles,” he said. “You should be going at eight or nine miles per hour right now.”
The video quickly sparked reactions online, with commenters offering sharply different opinions about Marshall’s parenting style.
Some applauded the former football player.
“Our job is to build men, not boys,” one commenter wrote.
Others felt the punishment went too far.
“Lead by example sir, show him how to do it,” another person wrote. “Don’t be driving and asking him to run. That’s a different message.”
Marshall responded directly to the criticism in his comments section.
“I just had a procedure on my back. I can’t run. But if you know me you know I lead from the front in ALL rooms.”
Another commenter questioned why Marshall chose to share the moment publicly.
“You needed to post this for what? to show the world and yourself how much of a dad you are bro if you wanna discipline your kid, the world doesn’t have to know that’s between you and him.”
Marshall replied, “I discipline my kids everyday and love on them. The world knew nothing about my kids until last year. I have one post on my main page. What do you think I’m doing? I can confidently tell you you’re wrong.”
He continued, “So let me tell you. You don’t know me you don’t know my son. I want our story our journey to inspire dads and their sons. Raising kingdom Men and bringing a few with us. Follow along.”
