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Smile, Beast Mode!
Marshawn Lynch is back in our lives, a gift for which we are all grateful.
In addition to being one of the best running backs of his generation, Lynch is among the NFL's recognizable talents -- no easy feat in a sport that requires its players to wear helmets during most of their telecasts. We'll go ahead and credit the sizzling 1-2 punch of "I'm Just 'Bout That Action, Boss" and "I'm Just Here So I Won't Get Fined" for taking Beast Mode to the masses.
And while we're on the subject of Lynch beneath the lid, let's take a trip down memory lane and revisit each of Beast Mode's head shots since entering the NFL with the Bills in 2007.
Hey, it's June 22.

Ben Liebenberg, senior photo editor of NFL Media, found the Raiders headshots in his inbox with the following note: "Was just informed that Marshawn Lynch posed with pads on. He apparently refused to take them off for the photographer." Remember, this is the same Lynch that left the Raiders facility with his helmet on after signing with the team. It's conceivable the man may have driven home with a helmet on. Keeping pads on is nothing.

Lynch's most recent headshot prior to his Raiders arrival came way back on 2013. This came during his Seahawks days, and let's be honest, it might not have been the best image to sit on for four years. It's the equivalent of finding the worst picture of you on Facebook -- the one you furiously untagged in an attempt to strike it from public record -- and using it as your profile pic for the length of a presidential administration.

This is basically a more flattering version of his 2013 photo. Maybe the reason he quit the Seahawks goes back to the photo department's lack of sensitivity in regard to his 2013 photo. Think about it.

Lynch arrived in Seattle in 2011 and, as you can see, the man was extremely happy about it. Don't worry, we're going to locate a smiling Marshawn by the end of this exercise.

You'd look this way too if you were trapped in Buffalo and your eccentricities were being mistaken as jerk-like tendencies. Free Marshawn!

There's that smile! Here's Lynch, 22 years young, making a point to show off a new grill. Wait ... can we get in tighter on that?

Yeah, that's the good stuff. If I ever meet Marshawn Lynch, my first question will be, "Hey, who's your custom grill guy?" I want some.

Look at our baby boy. That face of innocence. A kid who just wants the rock and a spacious condo in Western New York. So much running through mother-trucking faces still ahead of him. We're all trying to get back to this place.