Why Is Marshawn Lynch Playing Again

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Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is 28 years quondam. He's but been able to legally drink for seven years and won't exist eligible to become president of the Usa for another 7 years. Census statistics indicate that in his home state of California, the majority of males his historic period have yet to get married or have kids.

And yet in the wacky globe of professional football game, Lynch is closer to the terminate of his career than the beginning. In fact, it'due south not unfathomable that Lynch could retire right here and now. Such a move would be surprising, considering he's coming off his fourth sequent Pro Bowl season, but information technology wouldn't rock the sports world.

That explains why few of united states are expressing utter shock over the fact that Seahawks general manager John Schneider suggested during an interview with 710 ESPN Seattle radio this week that Lynch's NFL future is completely up in the air.

"Whether or not he wants to play side by side twelvemonth, I can't answer that," Schneider said, via Brady Henderson of 710 ESPN Seattle. "I don't know if he knows at this juncture."

Now, this could be front office posturing. Per Spotrac, Lynch is slated to comport an $viii.v million cap number in 2015—the terminal yr of his current contract—and Schneider stated "he's not going to exist playing at the same number he's scheduled to make."

But Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio too wrote on Tuesday that he'd "been hearing consistently since the Super Bowl ended" that it'south not known whether Lynch will return for a 9th NFL season. Similar rumors circled final offseason later the Seahawks crush the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl, and over again when he held out at the start of training campsite.

The affair about Lynch is he's non a normal cat; he's quiet and unpredictable.

If he were to walk away today, he'd be a year-and-a-one-half younger than Barry Sanders was when he famously retired while arguably yet in his prime in 1998. As Sanders noted in an NFL Films documentary in 2012, via DetroitLions.com, he made that decision partially considering he had lost the "drive, determination and enjoyment" for the game.

Sanders noted that he didn't care enough about individual accolades to stick around and play for a Detroit Lions team that "would probably be rebuilding." The Seahawks aren't rebuilding, but Lynch has already experienced the pinnacle of success with them, and he doesn't strike me as someone who cares about padding his personal football resume.

As well, there's a very skillful risk Lynch's best days are backside him. He led the league in broken tackles and averaged more yards after contact than any back with at least 50 carries in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus, and his yards-per-attempt average rose half a one thousand in a season in which he recorded a career-high 17 full touchdowns. Simply running backs don't age gracefully, and Lynch, who turns 29 in Apr, is about to hit "that age."

For a cautionary tale, look no further than Seattle circa 2005. That year, a 28-year-old Shaun Alexander had a ridiculous one,880-thousand, 27-touchdown season, earning MVP honors. Just the very next year, Alexander'south YPA boilerplate plummeted from 5.1 to iii.half dozen. He'd never rush for one,000 yards again and was finished in Seattle in 2007.

Alexander wasn't an aberration.

Running backs who faded later on turning 29 (yards past season)
Back	Historic period 28	Age 29	Age 30
Mike Garrett	1031	467	Gone
O.J. Simpson	1817	1503	557
Dave Hampton	1002	291	Gone
Lydell Mitchell	1159	820	211
Earl Campbell	1301	468	643
Billy Sims	1040	687	Gone
George Rogers	1203	613	Gone
Eric Dickerson	1659	1311	677
Roger Craig	1502	1054	439
Hostage Byner	1219	1048	998
Terry Allen	1353	724	700
Adrian Murrell	1042	553	l
Jerome Bettis	1341	1072	666
Jamal Anderson	1024	190	Gone
Marshall Faulk	1382	953	818
Shaun Alexander	1880	896	716
Deuce McAllister	1057	92	418
Travis Henry	1211	691	Gone
LaDainian Tomlinson	1474	1110	730
Brian Westbrook	1333	936	274
Jamal Lewis	1304	1002	500
Michael Turner	1371	1340	800
Cedric Benson	1111	1067	248
Steven Jackson	1145	1045	543
Pro Football Reference

But if Lynch were to quit the game all of a sudden, it'd be about more than than his trajectory equally a football player.

Lynch hardly spoke publicly before or after this year's Super Bowl in Arizona, but when he was asked about the team'south decision to pass rather than paw off to him on the game-clinching play from the 1-yard line, he stated modestly that "football is a team sport."

Lynch might honey football, but information technology's besides clear he doesn't love everything that comes with playing in the NFL. He'southward been fined heavily for refusing to speak to the media and wouldn't budge from canned responses when reluctantly participating in slivered segments of media sessions at the last ii Super Bowls.

Does a man who has already achieved the ultimate team accomplishment and who has already made over $40 one thousand thousand in his career really feel the demand to stick around for more punishment, both on the field and in front of the cameras?

Lynch reminds me of former Pro Bowl running back Ricky Williams, who abruptly retired as a 26-year-erstwhile afterwards a 1,300-yard flavour in 2003. Williams was facing a drug intermission, but similar Lynch, he was a California kid with a mentality that didn't seem to conform the NFL. He had unique values and priorities, and so does Lynch.

They both seem to realize that at that place's a lot more to life than football.

One thing Lynch isn't shy about is his beloved and admiration for his hometown of Oakland, California. A lot of united states of america take hometown pride, but listen to him speak about Oakland and y'all realize that this human being has a special connection to "The Town."

"Everything about Oakland," he told NFL Media's Michael Silver last yr, "is everything near me."

Oakland has similar sentiments for him.

"He is like the mayor of Oakland," said Kevin Parker, an Oakland native and one of Lynch's mentors, per Silver. "He is probably the biggest name in Oakland, non because of what he does so much on the field, simply considering of what he does in the community."

Would it really surprise you lot if Lynch were to determine to leave all of this behind correct at present and return to Oakland in guild to focus on his urban center, his charities and whatever else life has to offer beyond pro football?

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon

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Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2361512-why-marshawn-lynch-would-even-consider-retirement

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