He wasn’t lying when he said he’s “just about that action, boss.”
Marshawn Lynch, the electrifying Seattle Seahawks running back known as “Beast Mode,” is coming out of his short retirement to play for the Oakland Raiders, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
The Seahawks and Raiders reportedly penned a trade this week, which allowed Lynch to sign a two-year contract in his hometown of Oakland, California. He showed up at Oakland’s training facility on Wednesday for a physical, according to ESPN.
The deal is both wacky and uplifting, as few pundits saw Lynch coming back to the game after he announced his retirement during Super Bowl 50 last year. Since then, there were rumors that Lynch wanted to play his final stint in Oakland, but it seemed unlikely: He turned 31 on Saturday, hasn’t played in a year, battled injuries in his last season with Seattle and ran for just 3.8 yards per carry.
But he’ll be welcome in Oakland and back in the NFL. Lynch was an absolute monster on the field and a lightning rod off of it. He’s celebrated for his press conferences ― which he gave only when he was forced to ― but was infamous among defenders for his ability to “run through somebody face.”
The two-year deal in Oakland runs on an interesting timeline, too. The Raiders are headed to Las Vegas at some point, though probably not for at least another two years. Raiders brass, meanwhile, are fending off a passionate fan base that’s already calling the team a “lame duck.”
From a publicity standpoint, Lynch seems like an easy fit. From a football standpoint, well ...
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