"Brandon Marshall has been holed up in the theater room of his new Southwest Ranches home for the better part of five days.

The home is grand and gorgeous, but the theater room is the world's loneliest. Even its sole occupant is unable to see himself.

He has been calm and introspective for hours talking about his disturbing childhood, dysfunctional family and the incident earlier that April week that led to the arrest of his wife Michi Nogami-Marshall for allegedly stabbing him during a domestic dispute.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Marshall's fuse is lit. The Miami Dolphins' star receiver becomes agitated — then deflated — after watching his lesser-known contemporary Calvin Johnson in a national television commercial.

It's the kind of gig Marshall always has desired, but will never receive because of a troublesome past, riddled with emotional outbursts and public disputes dating back to his days at UCF.

These days it's difficult to convince himself — much less the world — he's not volatile. It's hard to persuade people you're not a ticking time bomb when you've blown up so many times before."