The Man-The Myth-The Legend that is Marshawn Lynch has
decided to hang up his cleats and retire from the NFL.
The decision came at a time of year where oddly enough we
have become accustom to hearing from Marshawn over the past three years, during
the Super Bowl. It was in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl 50 when Marshawn put
the deuces up and tweeted a picture of his cleats hanging from a wire.
For someone like myself who grew up in Washington,
there are only a few athletes who have been able to transcend the Pacific Northwest to the masses the way that Beast Mode
did.
There was The Great Steve
Largent - a small-statured 5'11 wide receiver out of University of Tulsa
who became the first Seattle Seahawk to enter the NFL Hall of Fame.
Then we had a kid, well not just any kid but
"The Kid" Ken Griffey Jr - the #1 overall selection in the MLB's 1987
draft and became the highest percentage(237-240 votes - 99.3%) voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
How could you forget about "The Glove" Gary Payton - Seattle's first Bay Area loves was a 6'4 PG who became the most beloved
Seattle Supersonic of All Time (Bring Em Back!). Hailing out of Oregon State
by way of Oakland, CA. Payton was one of the
fiercest competitors the NBA had to offer in the 90's and brought an attitude
to Seattle that
only one other player has been able to emulate...
That player happens to be the man of the hour, Marshawn Lynch -
Lynch came to Seattle on a different route
than the rest of Seattle's
most beloved sports heroes. The #12 (Ironic right?) overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft made his
trip to Seattle
after he was traded to the Seahawks in the middle of the 2010 season from the
Buffalo Bills for two draft picks.
Lynch not only became the face of the franchise but also
brought about an attitude that was strictly “About That Action Boss” helping
lead the Seattle Seahawks to their only Super Bowl win in franchise history.
Beast Mode became an instant sensation for all Seattle sports fans and
changed the entire culture of the Seattle Seahawks.
Maybe it was his powerful and bruising running style and how
he left it all out there on that field every snap, or his mentality and charity
which both features the same message "Family First” or it could even all stem
from how he brought back an attitude that we haven’t seen since our first
Oakland sports hero. Whatever it was the love was thick and there wasn't any
way to change it.
Their was however some people who were not too fond of Seattle's favorite athlete, that would be the journalists who were given the ultimate test to their profession, covering the Beast.
Marshawn Lynch became a major thorn in the daily lives of many journalists around the nation because he would refuse to speak with them. The reasoning behind his about-face to the media is somewhat of a mystery but rumblings thru Seattle say a lot had to do with the way the media reacted to his DUI from 2012. We will never know for sure because Lynch doesn't feel the need to explain, and that's cool its his choice and has no effect on the way he played on that field each and every Sunday that he suited up.
Marshawn Lynch earned the ultimate respect
nationwide when he played in his first playoff game and put the rest of
the NFL on notice, Beast Mode wasn't just a name, it was the his style.
It was January 8th, 2011; a brisk afternoon where the
defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints made their way in to what was
then Qwest field for a wild-card playoff game. It was on this day that Marshawn
showed the entire nation why he is referred to as "Beast Mode".
Lynch
pulled off what I consider the greatest run in NFL history that day when he
busted thru the entire defense of the Saints for a 67-yard touchdown, bucking some, stiff-arming others
and flying into the end-zone with nothing but him and his balls (LOL).
That is a play that will live in infamy for the rest of
eternity in Seattle.
That day was only the beginning. The beginning of a run that
would send the Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances; winning one in
dominating fashion and losing the other when Pete Carroll made one of the most
controversial calls in Super Bowl history and decided to not give the ball to
their bell cow and the most dominating force on an NFL offense on the 1-yard
line. (Ahh, it still hurts!)
On a day like today it’s depressing to think that all the
fun we had cheering on Beast Mode has finally come to a conclusion.
The Chapter Has Ended.
Is Marshawn Lynch a Hall of Famer? Unfortunately for
Marshawn, the people who vote for the Hall of Fame are the same people Lynch
would choose not communicate with in the NFL, the media.
I certainly believe he deserves to be enshrined given his
regular season and playoff stats but even if the voters don't believe so I know
it won't matter much to him. He will be a Hall of Famer to his fans in Seattle, to his
teammates, and to his family, and that is probably just fine with him.
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