Lindsay H. Jones

USA TODAY Sports

Few players can address the NFL's current domestic violence scandal like Brandon Marshall, who on Thursday discussed his own individual and family history of abusive relationships in a 40-minute press conference.

Marshall showed up for his media session with handouts for Chicago reporters, a packet full of legal documents and court transcripts from his 2009 trial on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. He was acquitted in that case, which was brought by a former girlfriend following one of several altercations in the couple's volatile relationship that predated his career in the NFL.

But Marshall, who served a one-game suspension for personal conduct violations in 2008, got a chance to repair his life — he is married to another woman, and the couple is pregnant with twins — and was able to continue his career as one of the NFL's elite wide receivers. He has sought treatment after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and in recent years has become the NFL's biggest advocate for awareness of mental illness.

Now Marshall is worried that other players might not have a similar chance if teams and the NFL try to punish players accused of domestic violence incidents too quickly.

"I believe in second chances. I believe that those guys — I don't know their cases, I haven't read their cases or listened to testimony. I just want the process to play itself out, because we just don't know. It's unfair for us to play judge and jury, you know, off talk," Marshall said. "That's the only part I don't like about it. I just want us to, whether it takes a day or if it takes a month, for us to do our due diligence."

Marshall said he has many female family members, including his mother, who have been victims of physical and sexual abuse. He said he saw violence as a child, and said that though he was "whupped" frequently, he will not discipline his future children that way.

Marshall admitted that an ESPN Outside the Lines piece, reported two years ago and focused on his off-field issues that Tuesday night, "pissed him off." He showed up to Halas Hall to ask for an apology from the network, and to address allegations attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing the father and friend of his former girlfriend, made Wednesday about his troubled past, and the way his case was handled by the NFL and his former team, the Denver Broncos.

"I've accepted my part in everything that I've done, everything I've been a part of," Marshall said.

Marshall's past has been brought to the present because of a series of high-profile domestic violence issues around the NFL, starting with former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, cut by his team and banned from the league last week after video surfaced of him knocking out his fiancee in an Atlantic City elevator.

The NFL last month changed the way it will punish domestic violence incidents under the personal conduct policy, with a six-game suspension for a first incident and a lifetime ban for repeat offenders. But that came before serious questions and backlash about what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell knew about the Rice incident when initially levying a two-game punishment.

Other players — including San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald, arrested Aug. 31 but not yet charged; Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, convicted by a judge but appealing the verdict; Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer, arrested on Wednesday — are also involved in domestic violence incidents.

"Domestic violence is wrong. I hate to bring up someone else's name, but the Ray Rice case is terrible. The things I've been through in the past are terrible. I believe that there should be consequences. I believe in the six-game suspension, and being suspended indefinitely. Hey, that may have been me," Marshall said.

Marshall took a rare stance Thursday in defending the embattled Goodell, citing a meeting Marshall had with Goodell and members of his staff in New York City this summer. Marshall said he had been trying to meet with Goodell to discuss mental illness since February. When they finally did meet, it was a far different from the two previous times Marshall been called into Goodell's office to discuss off-field behavior.

Marshall said the only people in the room were himself, Goodell, a clinician and Troy Vincent, executive VP for football operations. Marshall said Goodell had "tears in his eyes" as he asked how he can help players in trouble. "He really was concerned. He really cared. That's when I really gained a lot of respect for him, because a lot of times we think that's it just damage control, or we're trying to do this to protect the shield, but I gained so much respect for Goodell."

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.