Could Marshawn Lynch play for Raiders? He sends a clear message
From the moment Marshawn Lynch hung up his cleats during the Super Bowl, there has been a sotto conversation by many about his real intentions.
As in, could he go play a season or two for his hometown Oakland Raiders?
That always was the assumption, even while Lynch was still active, but as his relationship with his last team, the Seattle Seahawks, grew more complex. There was a holdout, followed by a bump in pay, infrequent offseason attendance and then some mixed messages about his health and availability a few times along the way in recent years.
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Of course, we’ve never really known Lynch’s intentions, at least not to him. For the past several years, he has refused to talk to the media — including his famous silence strikes at the Super Bowl, where he was fined for his antics.
But Lynch now has spoken to the media! On 60 Minutes Sports, which will air on Showtime on Tuesday, Lynch told SI’s L. Jon Wertheim that his playing days are over. With any NFL team.
“No, I’m done,” Lynch said, via CBS Sportsline. “I’m done. I enjoyed my time playing. Now it’s time to watch my cousins do their thing.”
Lynch’s agent, Doug Hendrickson, isn’t quite 100 percent convinced, but he is pretty sure right now that Lynch won’t be going Beastmode any longer.
“I think if you could write the perfect story as far as the last year of his career if he played again … to come back to Oakland, it makes sense right?” Hendrickson said. “But the reality is he told them he’s done. Selfishly, yeah, I’d love for him to play another year or two, make sure he cements himself in the Hall of Fame.”
Hendrickson then added:
“But with Marshawn, I’ll never say never.”
Given that tiny crack in the door, Wertheim nudges a toe in for one final confirmation from Lynch himself. He appears pretty firm about it.
“I’m retired. Is that good enough? Which camera you want me to look into?” Lynch said.
When told he should look right at Wertheim, Lynch leans forward and speaks clearly.
“I’m done,” he said. “I am not playing football anymore.”
Not much room for interpretation there. And it’s not like Lynch is some mute. He’s actually very entertaining when he speaks — it’s just usually not with media in earshot. Just check out below these Buffalo Bills highiights from earlier in his career. Lynch is an entertaining guy, and who knows? Maybe now that’s he’s done with football, he’ll open up more.
We’d love to hear it. But we’re not holding our breath either.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm