Marshawn doesn’t stonewall reporters for fun
Marshawn Lynch has always been a formidable NFL player. After posting extremely lackluster numbers in his final two years as a Buffalo Bill, Lynch’s career was rejuvenated by his relocation to Seattle, where he earned the nickname Beast Mode thanks to four consecutive 1200 yard seasons, and a couple of iconic touchdown runs in big games. One could say that the media is analagous to defensive backs looking to take Lynch down on one of his beastly runs. Lynch deflects and stonewalls reporters until he isn’t obligated to take their questions anymore. The first time he actually opened up and said more than a few words in months was earlier this week, when he used his mandatory time at the podium in one of the NFL’s final media days to elaborate on the fact that continuously putting microphones in front of his face isn’t the best tactic. Several reporters and media personalities–including Stephen A. Smith–have taken issue with Lynch’s behavior, citing the fact that as a player, Lynch is paid to do more than run, catch and score, and his post-game habits have become more of a spectacle than an incident.
Last year, after the Seahawks trounced the Denver Broncos in one of the more lopsided Superbowls in recent history, Lynch explained to NFL.com’s Michael Silver exactly the issue he has with the media, which explains his current policy.
I’ve never seen anybody win the game in the media. But at the same time, I understand what it could do for you, if you wanted to be someone who talks a lot. But that’s not me. And I’m not as comfortable, especially at the position I play, making it about me. As a running back, it takes five offensive linemen, a tight end, a fullback and possibly two wide receivers, in order to make my job successful. But when I do interviews, most of the time it’ll come back to me. There are only so many times I can say, ‘I owe it to my offensive linemen,’ or, ‘The credit should go to my teammates,’ before it becomes run down. his goes back even to Pop Warner. You’d have a good game and they’d want you to give a couple of quotes for the newspaper, and I would let my other teammates be the ones to talk. That’s how it was in high school, too. At Cal, I’d have my cousin, Robert Jordan, and Justin Forsett do it. Football’s just always been hella fun to me, not expressing myself in the media. I don’t do it to get attention; I just do it ’cause I love that (expletive).
