Marshawn Lynch. I think there is a lot that can be said about him as a player and a person. We’ve come to know the person that he is during the media availability at the two Super Bowls that the Seattle Seahawks were in and he doesn’t say much at all. During an interview with Deion Sanders, it was mentioned about his talking and he stated he’s just simply about that action, boss. The following year in the Super Bowl, he made another appearance at the podium and replied to each question with “I’m just here so I won’t get fined”. After the 2015 season, he decided to call it a career at the age of 28 years old and that’s about the age when running backs begin to deteriorate and break down. The rumor mill had been swirling around that he would come out of retirement and play for his hometown team, the Oakland Raiders. Today, the guy we all know as beast mode is back in the game and he will suit up for the Oakland Raiders. The Seahawks still own his rights so for him to play next season, a trade will need to happen.
What’s always stood out to me about his game is how he plays the position with an old school approach. He’s earned the nickname “beast mode” because of his powerful running style, his propensity to break tackles and the consistency he shows to run all over defenders. Though he appears as a stocky guy and a bigger back, he sometimes plays as if he’s smaller as he uses his fluid hips to squeeze in between small spaces to take advantage into the open field and when he’s free, he can take what appears to be him getting tackled and turn it into a big run that can give your team that spark it needs. How could we forget the epic run in the playoffs in 2011 against the Saints? Just about the entire defense missed him or if they were latched onto him, he pretty much carried the defense into the end zone with him. Then, there was the run on a Sunday night against Arizona. His power and toughness were on full display on a run where he basically bulldozed and stiff-armed every Cardinal defender in sight and scored the touchdown. To some, he was considered the best running back in the league and his peers felt the same way because, in 2015, he was voted as the ninth best player in the league entering that season and the top running back on the NFL’s top 100 players list.
He comes into a perfect situation in Oakland with a nice quarterback in Derek Carr, a nice receiving tandem in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree and a very good offensive line that’s been labeled as the second best offensive line in football behind the Dallas Cowboys. He will bring some much-needed balance and he will be a security blanket for Derek Carr in a way because your quarterback can’t throw the football 50 plus times a game.
