Image via Complex Original
You know why we're here. Today is Marshawn Lynch's 29th birthday! Now, even though Lynch has made it clear with his one-word press conference responses and unintentional catch phrases that he isn't one for the spotlight, it's only right that we show our appreciation for Beast Mode on the day he was born. Now, how should we go about doing this? By trying to pull this stunt off without getting arrested?
No, no, no, no. Instead, let's commemorate Beast Mode by digging up a few tidbits of information you may not know about the five time Pro Bowler. From being cousins with JaMarcus Russell to letting a student from his high school whip his Benz to the prom, here are 15 Things You Didn't Know About Marshawn Lynch.
JaMarcus Russell and Marshawn Lynch are cousins.
Marshawn Lynch is far from the only person in his family to get a taste of the NFL life. Marshawn's own cousin, some guy named JaMarcus Russell—maybe you have heard of him?—was taken by the Oakland Raiders with the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
His uncle, Lorenzo, played 11 years in the NFL as a cornerback for the Chicago Bears, Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals and Oakland Raiders. His cousin, Robert Jordan, was with the San Francisco 49ers for three months. A death in the family resulted in Jordan asking then-head coach Mike Nolan to release him from the team. After two years away from the game of football, he returned but it was with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Another cousin named Josh Johnson has become a journeyman quarterback, joining five different teams since getting selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2008 Draft.
Lynch's family tree also extends itself to the world of music with his cousin, Mistah F.A.B.
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Lynch didn't realize Buffalo was not in New York City until he landed in Buffalo.
Before he was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 2007 NFL Draft, Lynch knew nothing about life on the East Coast. Living in Oakland up until college and playing for the Pac-12's University of California, Berkeley will do that to you. In his E:60 profile, 'Shawn admitted that after hearing former Bills defensive end Bruce Smith call his name, all he knew was that he was going to New York. He thought that meant New York City.
"I thought I was gonna be out there with Jay Z," Lynch says, with a laugh. "And then, when I finally landed in Buffalo, aww man, it was like, slush on the ground. It just finished snowing. I didn't know nothing about no snow." Life comes at you fast.
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Growing up, Marshawn's nickname was “Sh*tty.”
In April, XXL ran a segment called "Run This Town" on Oakland. During the interview, Lynch's cousin Mistah F.A.B. revealed that the man commonly referred to as "Beast Mode" these days had a much different and less family-friendly nickname growing up: Shitty. F.A.B. added that he still has Marshawn's phone number saved under that shitty moniker.
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His change to No. 10 at Cal put him in sequence with his cousins.
Prior to taking over as Cal's starting running back in his sophomore year, replacing J.J. Arrington, Lynch went from No. 24 to No. 10. While Beast Mode has never explained the reason for the change, there was an intriguing situation in play. His new number was sandwiched in-between his cousins, linebacker Virdell Larkins (No. 9) and wide receiver Robert Jordan (No. 11), who also played for the Bears at the time. Coincidence? Probably not.
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His maternal grandfather thinks he knows why Marshawn doesn't talk to the media.
Since he was a child, Lynch's father, Maurice Sapp, has been in and out of prison. As a result, the Seahawks running back's maternal grandfather, Leroy Lynch, became a father figure in his life. So much so that Marshawn calls him "Papa." While speaking USA TODAY Sports, Leroy revealed that an incident during Lynch's freshman year at Oakland Technical High School with a player on the opposing team may be the reason why Lynch doesn't talk to the media.
"The guy jumped all on (Lynch) and beat him in the face," Papa said. "Then he got up, and he said, 'Man, you guys sure are dirty.'
"So I went down on the field, and he was sitting with his helmet off, (and) I put my hand on his shoulder. And I said, 'Look, let me tell you something. I don't ever want to hear you say nothing during a game. All I want you to do when you're back hit the ground, just jump up. Any means you can, your knees, your elbows, your arms, whatever. Just keep your mouth shut and get them off of you, get up. Soon as they tackle you, you come right back up.'"
As he prepared a lemon cake, one of his grandson's favorite desserts, the now 73-year-old Leroy says it was that moment, coupled with his "aversion to star treatment by the news media," which could very well be the reason why he prefers to give the media the one-word/phrase treatment.
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He got his first grill at 12 years old and accidentally threw it out in less than a year.
In an interview with Vice Sports, Lynch revealed that he got his first grill at 12 years old. According to Beast Mode, he was the only person in junior high school with a "real grill." After four or five months, though, Marshawn took off his grill and put it in a napkin because he didn't want to get it dirty while eating Jack in the Box. When he finished eating his meal, he threw everything out, including the napkin with his grill.
Lynch did eventually go back to Jack in the Box to see if he could retrieve the grill, but he was forced to just take the L.
Lynch's favorite run isn't from the NFL or college, but from high school.
Believe it or not, Marshawn Lynch's legendary "Beast Quake" 67-yard touchdown scamper against the New Orleans Saints in the 2011 NFL Playoffs is not his favorite run. Instead, Lynch admits to SI.com, "It would probably be the run I had in the Silver Bowl when I was in high school." Skip ahead to the 44-second mark in the above video to judge for yourself.
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His love for Skittles nearly never happened.
Could you even imagine a world where Marshawn Lynch isn't chomping down on Skittles? Before getting introduced to what his mother refers to as "power pellets" till this very day, Lynch's mom Delisa tried giving his son everything from Alka Seltzer to Pepto-Bismol to help with Beast Mode's consistent bouts with an upset stomach during Pop Warner. After some trial and error, Marshawn found a candy that settled his stomach, but it took too long for him to eat it. The next game, Delisa gave him Skittles and the rest is history.
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If he wasn't a running back, Marshawn would want to be a “rover.”
After amassing 8,695 rushing yards and 80 total touchdowns in his nine years in the NFL, it's clear that Marshawn Lynch made the right choice by becoming a running back. However, if there was another position he could play, it would be "rover." In college football, a rover is a hybrid between a safety and linebacker. This position player usually has the build of a linebacker but the speed to be a defensive back, which perfectly sums up Lynch's skill set.
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He was getting pulled over so much by officers when he played for the Bills that he called for a meeting with the chief of police.
When Marshawn Lynch was drafted by the Buffalo Bills, his mother Delisa was concerned that people would judge him based on his appearance. "They see the gold teeth and the dreads and they automatically think here comes a thug or a bad guy and...and he's really not," she told ESPN.com in a 2015 interview. As she suspected, Lynch was pulled over so consistently that he contacted the chief of police in the city of Hamburg, N.Y. to complain about the way he was being treated.
"I was paranoid to the point where every time I saw a police officer, I pulled over to the side of the road for them to come and start to talk to me," Lynch said. "It just wasn't working out. And then with not playing and getting carries, I mean, it probably was just time for a new scene."
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He told his mom, Delisa, at 12 years old, that he was going to the NFL and would buy her a house.
For many people, college is a time of learning and self-discovery. It's about figuring out who you want to be and what career you want to pursue in life. For Lynch, he already had that all figured out before becoming a teenager. According to his mother, after picking up a 12-year-old Marshawn from Pop Warner football practice in North Oakland, he told her, "Mama, when I grow up, I’m going to the NFL, and I’m going to buy you a house." She responded, "Baby, you just hold onto that dream, because dreams do come true."
While his mom does confess that making it to the NFL didn't seem real, she adds, "It was just something that I felt like I needed to say, 'cause I wanted to keep that spirit going, that positiveness that he had." After getting drafted in the first round of the 2007 Draft, Lynch told Delisa, "Momma, go get your house."
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Lynch once let a student from his former high school drive his Mercedez-Benz to the prom.
Whenever Lynch has some free time, he goes back to his old stomping grounds and his high school, Oakland Tech. During one of his visits, Beast Mode overheard one of the students complain that he didn't have a car to drive his date to the prom. After noticing that the kid was working hard in school, the Seattle Seahawks running back approached him with one hell of an offer: an opportunity to drive his $80,000 Mercedes-Benz to the prom.
After agreeing to the offer, Lynch told the kid, "What I'mma do is, I'm gonna go get it detailed. I'm gonna be in the backseat. I'm gonna let you drive it. When y'all get there, get out, and I'll take the car, and I'll come back and let you drive it home."
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He used to be known as Marshawn Sapp-Lynch.
Up until his senior in high school, the Seattle Seahawks running back's name was Marshawn Sapp-Lynch, the surnames of his mother Delisa Lynch and father Maurice Sapp. Following a tumultuous relationship with his father, who was consistently in and out of prison, Marshawn decided, as a minor, that he wanted the "Sapp" part of his name removed. Of course, he needed an adult to help him make the change. That person is still a mystery.
Last year, his aunt Sarah Bridges brought up the name change to Marshawn with a text, which had the message, "You are a Sapp first, before anything" with a picture of his paternal grandmother, Odessa Sapp, and baby pictures of him and his cousins. Lynch responded, "You know what, I know what my name is." He included a photo of his back with a tattoo that had Sapp on it. "It was all colored in and it was real pretty and I was like, 'Oh, wow.' I had no idea,'" she said.
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Before picking University of California, Berkeley, Lynch also considered going to Oregon.
When Lynch needed to pick a college, he narrowed down his options to the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Oregon. How did he reach a decision? “He told me he’d go to Cal if I moved (somewhere safer),” his mom said. “So I moved, and he stayed close to home.” UC Berkeley was a short, 15-minute drive away. That worked for him.
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He pulled off a very elaborate prank on his agent before filming his cameo on "The League"
Lynch's brief appearance on The League was entertaining, but what happened before was even more entertaining, depending on who you ask. In an interview with Field Gulls, show co-creator Jeff Schaffer discusses the roller coaster of emotion that went into getting Marshawn on the set.
The plan was to have him on set the Tuesday after the Seattle Seahawks' contest against the St. Louis since that day is usually an off-day for the players. However, Lynch tweaked his back during the game and wouldn't be able to fly over to L.A. because he needed treatment. Resigned to the fact that Marshawn would not be able to make a cameo, The League went on without him and wrapped shooting. One day after wrapping, Schaffer received a phone call saying that he could do it.
According to Lynch's agent, he was expected to fly in on Monday night from San Francisco and be on set at 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning. At 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Schaffer received a text from his agent informing him that he missed last night's flight would be arriving at 9:20 a.m. At 9:30 a.m., Schaffer reaches out to Marshawn's agent to see if everything is going as planned. "Well, my other client—Cooper Helfett—was supposed to drive him. I'm trying to call Cooper, I haven't heard from him," he said. "Marshawn's phone is off, so I'm assuming he's on the flight."
Schaffer arrives on set and no ones knows where Lynch is. Then, he gets a phone call. It's his agent, Doug Hendrickson.
"Jeff, on the phone with him now. His uncle got in an accident on the way to the airport this morning. They're both okay but as a result his phone was in the car and the car was towed, that's why it was off. He called me from the accident and that was the missed call from 5:30 AM. He just got the phone out of the car now, he feels terrible.
"Also, it's a long story, but he's still in Seattle. Totally sucks. Can't apologize enough."
Thirty minutes later, Hendrickson calls again. "Well, I guess if you're a client for 10 years, you're allowed to fuck with your agent. Marshawn's been here the whole time. He just walked up and met me in the lobby." It turns out Lynch did get in the night before and decided to pull a prank on his agent by making up an elaborate story and then walking up to him once the car from the production was scheduled to pick him up and go to set.
Beast Mode on the field...and with the pranks.
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