Marshawn Lynch took everyone by surprise when he revealed about his strained relationship with Russell Wilson two days ago. The ex-RB enjoyed a prolific career in the NFL but has stepped back with no plans to return. In his interview with Sharpe on Club Shay Shay, where he made the explosive revelation about Wilson, he talked about a variety of stuff, from his career to his infamous legal troubles.
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Apart from taking a step back from the league, Lynch also decided to stay away from the media. In 2013 Lynch was the Seahawks’ star running back but he stopped speaking to the media on record. The New York Times noted, “Lynch’s silence came to register as an expression of power—a way of controlling his own narrative by refusing to offer one.” Now, many years later, Lynch has given his reasons for avoiding the media.
Marshawn Lynch Exposes the Media’s Duality
After his arrests relating to carrying a concealed weapon and subsequent suspensions, Lynch was blackballed by the media, a full 180 from their coverage of him before. Talking to Shannon Sharpe, the ex-RB shed some light on why he decided to stonewall the media and only ever made appearances as part of the league’s mandatory press scrums,
“I am talking to these media guys or whatever, and they’re like.., “Oh yeah, you’re like the greatest thing since sliced bread, you know they (NFL) had nothing like you since Thurman Thomas..” and blah blah. And then I got in some real trouble, had to face some adversity and then it was like..”Oh, I knew he was a thug! It was only a matter of time..” And you know, I was like Damn!”
He highlights how quickly the media turned on him, applauding him and his game to suddenly questioning his character and labeling him a “thug.” So he decided to step back and not engage. If he didn’t say anything, nobody could twist his words to paint their own narratives about him. His apprehensions about the media and its misrepresentation were also clear when he was talking about his time with the Seattle Seahawks, Russell Wilson, and coach Pete Carroll.
When BeastMode “Laughed in” Pete Carroll’s face
When talking about his relationship with QB Wilson, Lynch made it abundantly clear that he holds much respect for him as a player. However, he was hesitant to fully open up as he knew his words could be twisted and make him seem malicious towards Wilson.
Talking of his time with the Seahawks, and more specifically the infamous Super Bowl XLIX interception, when the Seattle Seahawks were down by four points and inches from scoring before Russell Wilson threw the red zone interception, Lynch said,
“I go by Russ, and I just hear him like, ‘Ah man, I’ll get him next time.’ As I hear this s***, I usually don’t take my helmet off, but I take my helmet off, and I go right to Pete Carroll, and I hit his a** with the biggest ‘AHAHAHAHAHA.’ And at that point, I go to the locker room. I’m out. I don’t want to see all this s*** going on. I don’t see the last few plays. I’m in the locker room.”
Marshawn Lynch has always been his own man, and played by his own rules. He called it as he saw it, and he didn’t hold back in this recent interview with Sharpe.
