Why the media should leave Marshawn Lynch alone
The media keeps hounding Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch to talk to them. He continues to refuse, and just does his thing. At what point should they just give up and let Beast Mode be?
Last week, the media spent all their time on Deflate-Gate and how that could affect Tom Brady’s and Bill Belichick’s legacy. We couldn’t have TWO WEEKS of that, so what would the narrative be this week?
Enter Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. He was the one who said “I’m all about that action, boss!” as practically the only thing he said during last year’s Super Bowl hoopla.
At this year’s Super Bowl Media Day, Lynch went to the podium for about 4-and-a-half minutes and said several variations of “I’m only here just so I don’t get fined,” to answer media questions.
This is not the first time Lynch has refused to cooperate with the media. He was fined $50,000 in November for not talking to the media, and the league collected another $50,000 imposed after the 2013 season that was contingent on his cooperating with the media.
When will the time come for the media to own up that they lost to Marshawn Lynch and just move on?
I know that people in the media like when the phrase “The media can make you or break you,” but they haven’t broken Lynch. He is sticking to his guns, and he just won’t talk.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand that he is an employee of the NFL, and one of the stipulations of the multi-million dollar contract he signed was that he talk to the media. Lynch is doing the minimum required of him, but because the media don’t like his answers, the NFL has to come down harder on him?
I think the cookie-cutter answers and clichés that athletes give to the media is a real waste of time. “I just wanna take it one game at a time,” “It’s a team effort,” and other stock answers really don’t add anything to a player or what happened in a game.
So why do the media go to the player? They just want a quote to use. They feel they can’t get a good story without a strong quote.
Well, read this story on Marshawn Lynch written by Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times. It was published before last year’s Super Bowl. It is a well-written, moving portrait of Lynch and gives a lot of information about him, but it does not contain one direct quote from Lynch himself.
Why can’t the rest of the media do the same? Laziness perhaps?
Some who come to Lynch’s defense say that the rule requiring players to talk to the media should be abolished. Lynch’s quarterback, Russell Wilson agrees with that notion.
“I just think that sometimes we focus on things that don’t matter and don’t make any difference,” Wilson said. “Marshawn is a great football player and a guy that puts his work in every day and is dedicated to the game of football and dedicated to his teammates. There are times I don’t think he should be fined, especially to extent that people try to fine him. That’s just my honest opinion.”
Why not just tell the teams to have players available for comment? They don’t have to have EVERYONE available. If the NFL wants to require every player to talk, have them do at least one interview a month, and THEY can choose to whom to grant the interview.
People say the NFL has the rule so it can promote the league and its players, and that means more money and attention for both parties. There are plenty of players who will stand behind the microphone and talk ad nauseam about themselves or the league. Reporters will never be left without a player willing to talk.
I keep hearing fans and the media complain about rich, spoiled
athletes who only think about themselves. They want to lump Lynch in that group, but he doesn’t fit there.
Lynch gave an interview with NFL.com’s Michael Silver in which he explained why he doesn’t go along with the media.
“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).”
That’s not enough for some. They want him to talk, and by God, he will talk. They are playing a game of chicken with Lynch, and Lynch looks like he won’t blink. He is doing the bare minimum so he doesn’t get fined.
Lynch knows that the media likes to pick who is good or who is bad in the NFL. They hand-pick their favorite players and blow up their profile. Lynch doesn’t want to play that game.
“I don’t know what story y’all trying to get out of me. I don’t know what image y’all trying to portray of me,” Lynch said to reporters on Thursday. “But it don’t matter what y’all think, what y’all say about me because when I go home at night, the same people that I look in the face — my family that I love, that’s all that really matter to me. So y’all can go make up whatever y’all want to make up because I don’t say enough for y’all to go and put anything out on me.
“Y’all shove cameras and microphones down my throat,” Lynch continued. “But when I’m at home in my environment, I don’t see y’all, but y’all mad at me. And if you ain’t mad at me, then what y’all here for? I ain’t got nothing for y’all, though. I told y’all that.
“I’m here preparing for a game. And y’all want to ask me these questions, which is understandable. I could get down with that. But I told y’all. I’m not about to say nothing… All of my requirements are fulfilled.”
This fight looks to continue without end unless the NFL tweaks its rule. Don’t expect Lynch to say anything after Super Bowl XLIX, even if he is the hero. They can keep trying, but they will get the same response they’re getting now.
Isn’t it about time everyone just left Marshawn Lynch alone?