Marshawn Lynch has positioned himself as one of the best running backs of the last 2 decades. The Seattle Seahawks legend was a five-time Pro Bowler, rushed for 10,413 yards, and scored 85 TDs over 149 regular-season games. It is safe to say that Lynch was a pivotal pillar in helping the Hawks win Super Bowl XLVIII. But did you know that Lynch wouldn’t have had the same career trajectory if not for Aaron Rodgers?
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A few months ago, Lynch appeared on the Club Shay Shay podcast and revealed that if not for Aaron Rodgers, he wouldn’t have a career in Cal. Back during the Golden Bears’ spring game in 2004, then-freshman Lynch was given a lucky break to take the field against California’s first-team defense during the spring game. Lynch was intimated by his seniors and lost composure, which led to him making a pivotal mistake during one of the plays.
Lynch apparently ran towards the opposing team’s end-zone, going against the play strategy. Subsequently, the running back coach started piling on Lynch, but luckily, he had his senior Aaron Rodgers on his side, who adapted on the go and possibly made one of the smoothest moves he has ever seen. Before the head coach could chime in, Rodgers came to Lynch’s rescue and took all the blame on himself, claiming that the faulty play was according to plan. This shocked Lynch to the core. “I’m like what the f*ck,” shared the former RB to Sharpe during the show.
“Before (Coach) could even get over there to open his mouth, I just hear A-Rod telling him, ‘Nah, nah, nah, that was me.’ My running back coach is like, ‘No, he ran the wrong way, I know he did!’ … A-Rod’s like, ‘No, no, no, I did the wrong thing. I did.’ … I’m sitting there, like, ‘You solid like that.’ Now, me and A-Rod built a level of trust. A-Rod, he really put me in the mix,” as per CBS Sports.
Lynch was thoroughly impressed by Rodgers’ antics on and off the field. He even went on to call him one of the best quarterbacks he’s ever played with over Russell Wilson, whom he played with for four years. It’s no secret that he had an indifferent relationship with Wilson and the RB went on to divulge more about that in the same podcast.
Marshawn Lynch Opens Up on His Relationship With Russell Wilson
One of the greatest moments in recent Super Bowl history came when the Seahawks fumbled a clear winner in the final 26 seconds of the game against the Patriots in 2015. The Hawks, down 24-28, had the ball on the 1-yard line. It should have been a clear case of handing off to the RB [Marshawn Lynch] and clinching the win. But for some reason, HC Pete Carroll decided to call a pass play.
The ploy failed as Wilson’s pass was intercepted and the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl XLIX after coming agonizingly close. Marshawn Lynch was devastated by Carroll’s move. It was his dream to score the Super Bowl-winning score. He and his teammates wanted to start a dynasty. Instead, they became part of “the dumbest call in football history,” ranted the former RB to Sharpe, as per FOX KTVU.
“A moment? They took a dream,” Lynch said. “You took a dream away, you took a moment away, you took a dynasty away. You put us in the history books as the dumbest call in football history.”
The host then quipped Lynch on his relationship with Wilson. The five-time Pro Bowler didn’t have a high opinion of him. “I didn’t f**k with Pete [Carroll] and [Russell Wilson] was just a quarterback for me,” Lynch said. The Super Bowl interception surely left a sour taste in his heart. Moreover, Marshawn has had his share of differences with the QB that led him to never gel with him to the fullest.
The duo never really developed a relationship beyond football, and since he and his teammates weren’t allowed to contact Wilson directly, Lynch once tried to extend his warm support to his QB teammate by consoling him about the loss indirectly through a Seahawks’ personnel. Wilson tried reaching back, but the RB didn’t pick up as it came from a blocked number. They had a chat later, but according to the former back, the Pittsburgh Steelers QB eventually started ignoring him.
