Reasons To Be Excited About Marshawn Lynch's Return To The NFL

There’s no doubt that the return of Marshawn Lynch to the NFL will be one of the more captivating and downright fun storylines going into 2017.

marshawn lynch lead
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Image via Getty/Prince Williams

marshawn lynch lead

Marshawn Lynch’s return to the NFL may be a step or two down from Michael Jordan’s return to donning the Bulls. But it’s definitely going to be one of the more exciting returns from retirement in recent years. After unceremoniously announcing his retirement through a cryptic tweet in the middle of the Super Bowl last season, Lynch had quite the 2016. He rode camels through Egypt, climbed mountains with Bear Grylls, and even re-created his legendary injury cart ride at Cal. He lived a lifetime of amazing experiences in just one season away from the NFL.

During this interesting offseason, he said in a rare interview that he was definitely done playing football. “I’m done,” he told 60 Minutes, in blunt Beast Mode fashion. “I’m not playing football anymore.”


His tune soon began to change with more time away from the gridiron, though. In March, his agent said on a radio show that Lynch missed paying football. Later on, the Raiders expressed interest in acquiring Lynch’s rights, which still belonged to the Seattle Seahawks. Finally, the Raiders were able to acquire the suddenly un-retired player as a fifth-round draft pick back in April.

And here we are now: Gearing up for the reboot of the Beast Mode show. Lynch has drawn rave reviews from coaches and teammates alike. Derek Carr has called Lynch a “loyal, faithful person,” while head coach Jack Del Rio has said that the running back is “really soaking up the system” at OTA’s. Whether all the feel-good chatter around Lynch is just a PR stunt or not remains to be seen, but it’s certainly an encouraging sign for an Oakland franchise that hasn’t had much to cheer about over the last 15 or so years.

There are a lot of storylines that the media and fans will be following going into the 2017 season, and there’s no doubt that the return of Marshawn Lynch to the NFL will be one of the more captivating, interesting, and downright fun storylines going into 2017—provided we get him in his Beast Mode of old. Here are the top reasons why you should be excited about Marshawn Lynch’s return to the NFL, in case you needed them (which we know you probably didn’t).

His skills are undeniable.

marshawn lynch undeniable skills

Lynch is one of the best downhill runners of this era; he’s used this combination of strength and speed to put up six 1,000-yard seasons—including four straight over 1,200 with the Seahawks from 2011-2014. If the Raiders get half of the back that helped bring Seattle its first Super Bowl championship and (*sigh*) could have bought them a second, Oakland’s backfield will be in much better shape than it was last year. And although it’s way too early to draw any conclusions, Lynch looked pretty good at Raiders OTA’s. Here’s a run that Jack Del Rio posted to his Twitter account:

His antics are entertaining.

reasons excited marshawn lynch return nfl skills undeniable

He's a hometown boy.

marshawn lynch hometown boys

He could make the Raiders great again.

marshawn lynch raiders great again

The 10,000 yards watch is on.

marshawn lynch 10000 yards

Charles Woodson gave him the No. 24 blessing.

marshawn lynch charles woodson

Most legendary players who get their numbers retired likely take great pride in knowing that no player will ever wear their old jersey number again. Charles Woodson donned the No. 24 jersey for 11 seasons in Oakland, and his status as one of the greatest defensive backs in league history obviously qualifies him as someone worthy of a number retirement. Despite this, Woodson gave Lynch his blessing to wear his old number, saying he doesn’t think anybody is more worthy of the number than Lynch, although Lynch did playfully offer to give Woodson his old number back.

 

He could win you your fantasy league.

marshawn lynch fantasy league

He's a business, man.

marshawn lynch business man

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