Marshawn Lynch's reclusive nature with the media already had the Seattle Seahawks running back on thin ice with the NFL as he entered Super Bowl week. The situation might soon escalate.
In an exclusive one-on-one with NFL Media columnist Michael Silver, the famously reporter-shy Lynch said he was still deciding whether to attend the mandatory team-interview session at Media Day on Tuesday.
"If you're forced to do something, it's not as good as if you choose to do it," Lynch told Silver last week. "So no, I won't have a lot of interesting things to say. When you're forced to do something and you know it, it kind of just takes away from the whole experience of what it could be if (it were) natural. So, I'll probably give forced answers."
Lynch was not listed among Seahawks players assigned to a podium for Media Day, which will be held at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., That doesn't guarantee Lynch will be absent, but it's unusual in this setting when the star running back doesn't get the star treatment.
Lynch didn't speak with the media for much of the season, receiving a $50,000 fine for his public silence. Lynch appealed, and Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, ruled to hold the $50,000 in abeyance after Lynch committed to complying with league policy. The shared understanding at the time was that any additional violation would result in the $50,000 being collected, and a minimum fine of $50,000 more being assessed.
As you might imagine, skipping the biggest media event of Super Bowl week would not sit well with the folks on Park Avenue. To provide some context, Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora was fined $20,000 for skipping a (non-Media Day) session two years ago. The total cost of a Lynch no-show likely would sky far above that based on the terms of his previous appeal.
"Football's just always been hella fun to me, not expressing myself in the media," Lynch told Silver. "I don't do it to get attention; I just do it cause I love that (expletive)."
We'll soon find out if Lynch hates the other part of his job enough to take a substantial financial hit.
*We handed out awards for the 2014 coaching class and talked all the latest headlines in the latest "Around The League Podcast." *
