“Thesignificant thingabout thatplay
isyouwill seemedoinga lotofwork,”he
says, “butyou’vegot toremember there
wasanoffensive line thatbeatme to
theendzone.Therewere tworeceivers
makingkeyblocks.Asmuchaspeople
want togivemecredit, itwasmysupport
system thatactuallymade ithappen.
WhenIsay thatrunsymbolizesmy life
andmycareer, it’s theabsolute truth
abouthowIreally feel. I’mgoing togive
iteverythingI’vegot, and if Ineedhelp
along theway, I’mgoing toask for it.”
Lynchwasacquiredby theSeahawks
during the2010seasonwhenhewas
deemedexpendableby theBuffaloBills,
whohadselectedhimwith the12th
overallpickof the2007NFLDraft.
Lynchgainedmore than1,000yards in
eachofhisfirst twoseasonswithBuffalo,
buthehadsomeoff-the-fieldproblems
andneveradjusted to theNewYork
weather.SeattleacquiredLynch for the
bargainpriceof future fourth-andfifth-
rounddraftpicks.
Lynchhas foundahomeaway from
home inSeattle,wherehehasrushed for
more than1,000yards ineachofhis four
full seasonswith the team. In those four
years,hehasgainedmoreyards (5,357)
andscoredmore touchdowns (56) than
anyrunningback in theNFL.
“Tome,hehas thegreatest influence
ofanyone inourgame,”saysSeattle
runningbackscoachShermanSmith.
“Thewayherunsonoffense, itexcites
ourdefense.They feedoffhisenergy.
Andweknowonoffense,he’sgoing todo
great thingswith theball.”
WHENTHEHAIR
isnot tiedup, the
dreadlocks—whichhesayshavenot
beencut in10years— fallpastLynch’s
shoulders.He isheavily tattooed,
althoughwith“Oakland”onhischest
and“Mama’sBoy”onhisback,what’s
not to like?Hehasanumberofgrillshe
wearsonhis teeth, including thoseofhis
trademarkbrand, “BeastMode.”
Bynotspeakingwith the football
media,Lynchdoesnot takeadvantage
of theopportunity tocorrectany
CLOCKWISEFROMABOVE: LYNCH (#24)
SCORESDURINGSUPERBOWLXLIXAND
FORTHECALIFORNIAGOLDENBEARS
(#10);BEFORETHESUPERBOWL;WITH
HISFAM1STFAMILYFOUNDATION
Lynch,whoranoverorbrokeaway from
at leastahalf-dozenwould-be tacklerson
a67-yard touchdownrun thatremains
aYouTubeclassic. Itwassosensational
thatcheers fromSeattle fansresulted ina
small tremoratanearbyseismicnetwork
station.The touchdownbecame forever
knownas the“BeastQuake.”
ForLynch, therunrepresentedmore
thana fabulous footballplay.Theeffort
anddetermination ittookwasareflection
ofhiseffort to lifthimselfoutofa tough
NorthOaklandneighborhood,wherehe
wasraised inasingle-parenthousehold.
“Mymomworked three jobsata timeand
supported fourkidsonherown,”Lynch
says. “Wehadno fatherfigure. Inever
thoughtabout theNFLbecauseI’dnever
seen itdone.Thatrunsymbolizes theway
thatI feelwithmy life, growingup tomy
careerrightnow.”
Therunalsoservesasamodel for
theFam1stFamilyFoundation that
he founded in2011withhiscousin
JoshJohnson, aquarterbackwith the
CincinnatiBengals.
50
SEPTEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
ONNOTGIVINGLYNCH
THEBALLATTHE1-YARD
LINEWITHONLY
SECONDSLEFT INSUPER
BOWLXLIX:
“If Isay, ‘Why thehelldidn’t they
giveme theball?’does thatmean
Ihaveno trust inmy team?Iamon
the team; I’mnot the team.AmI
upsetIdidn’tgetachance there?
NowIam.ButI justrespect the fact
that it’sa teamgame.”
PHOTOS
JAMI E SQUI RE/GETTY IMAGES ; JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES ; ELSA/GETTY IMAGES
Formoreon thiscontroversial play,
go toMagazines.aa.com
