Like It Is

Seahawk's silent treatment stirs up a ruckus

We are supposed to believe Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch wanted no publicity.

So who has been the center of attention this week as the Seattle Seahawks prepare to defend their Super Bowl title against the New England Patriots?

Marshawn Lynch.

The more he refuses to be interviewed, the more reporters try to interview him.

That is a reporter's job. It's how he makes his living. It's how he takes care of his family.

Lynch's job is to carry a football, something he does extremely well. He's blessed with speed and size that allow him to break tackles.

In his first playoff game Jan. 8, 2011, he broke eight tackles on a 67-yard touchdown run during which he also drove New Orleans Saints defensive back Tracy Porter into the ground with a fierce stiff-arm.

Seahawks fans reacted so loudly that the cheers registered as seismic activity at a monitoring station a block from the stadium. Local reporters called it a "Beast Quake," playing off Lynch's nickname of "Beast Mode."

Lynch started his career with Buffalo, where he was popular because of his community work.

Now he's famous for answering every question at Tuesday's mandatory Super Bowl news conference with a version of "I'm just here so I won't be fined," and then a version of "You know why I'm here" during Wednesday's mandatory news conference.

Twice Lynch has been fined for not doing mandatory news conferences. The first time was $50,000 and Seahawks fans raised the money to cover it. The NFL changed its mind with the stipulation the money would be donated to charity.

The second time he was again fined $50,000 and there was no fundraising. It has been reported that if he didn't show for this year's Super Bowl news conferences, the fine would have jumped to $500,000. That's a lot even for a guy who makes $7 million a year to play football.

There has been speculation that Lynch was burned by someone in the news media, or that he is just being difficult, but the truth is he gave an in-depth interview before last year's Super Bowl to NFL.com's Michael Silver.

Way down in the well-written piece Lynch was asked why he didn't want to do interviews. This is what he said:

"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.

"This 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]."

So Lynch isn't really shy. He's more of a rebel who doesn't like to do something he feels he is being forced to do, which he said in Silver's story.

And as long as he has nothing to say, he will be followed by reporters with questions.

He also will be the center of attention, which he apparently relishes.

Sports on 01/29/2015

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