January 27th, 2015 at 2:32 PM ^
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January 27th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
The media feeds in to his "shtick." By now, they know they're going to get absolutely nothing of value from him. Give the guy what he supposedly wants and leave him alone. Stop wasthing everybody's time-- then pretending to be surprised when he does his act.
January 27th, 2015 at 2:43 PM ^
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January 27th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^
Perhaps it isn't a "shtick" and he has a legit social anxiety disorder?
I know personally I have a lot of trouble in places like "networking events" or "career fair" type environments since I was diagnosed with PTSD. Maybe he really has trouble with it as well.
I dont think anyone should be forced to talk to the media. It's actually pretty sickening that they force him to do it IMO.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:08 PM ^
The man in an entertainer - his job is to entertain on and off the field.
it is not too much to ask him to politely answer questions
he had a silly news conference with skittles - so he doesn't mind answering questions when he wants to
if he did the skittles thing b/c he got paid then he should answer the sports reporters' questions as well b/c that is why he has such a big contract! the NFL salaries would be nothing without TV dollars and front page sports coverage!
The NFL is a media monster! every player needs to feed the beast - if you don't want to feed it then play in a rec league
January 27th, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 3:26 PM ^
isnt it entertainment to the fans watching the games he plays in? I dont think the games are watched out of necessity. So whether he likes it or not he is an entertainer.
January 27th, 2015 at 5:25 PM ^
I think Lynch is quite entertaining. They are forcing him to do something he doesn't want to do and he is screwing it up for them. The media are acting like a bunch of babies because they feel entitled to have athletes provide them with self-writing stories.
The coverage of 2 psi for the entire first week of Super Bowl hype is the laziest and most entitled I have ever seen the media act. Are they actually going to get around to writing any Super Bowl stories at all? There are plenty of great stories and angles out there and all they want to do is harp on 2 psi and Marshawn Lynch.
Worst Super Bowl "coverage" ever...
January 27th, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^
That's such a bs "define is" comment. The origional supposition was that he was an entertainer so he should be good at talking to people since it is entertainment as well and is magically the same kind of entertainment. That supposition is pretty bs and now you're trying to draw to be technical to connect the semantics rather than actually look at the spirit of and real world meaning of whether the comment is relevant.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:27 PM ^
If marshawn lynch ran the ball 20 times for 150 yards in an empty stadium how much $ would he make?
In my example the game is not on tv and falling trees do not make any noise
January 27th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
How much money would he make if he did interviews all day long and couldn't run the ball in a game? Nobody cares aboure the interviews, people like Lynch because he goes Beast Mode.
January 27th, 2015 at 5:57 PM ^
If you had a football player who could average 7.5 ypg 20 times a game but didn't like talking to people would you want him on your team? If not, you're a fool.
He also does that in full stadiums. People still seem to show up no matter how much he does or does not talk to the media. So your crazy hypotetical argument isn't exactly relevant.
You even admit your example exacts in a world that is not the one we or Marshawn Lynch live in.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
he wants the controversy to make the game more interesting to non-fans
its all about eyeballs on the screens
he could have shut down deflategate about a week ago - but he loves the NFL on the front page and leading the nightly news
January 27th, 2015 at 6:08 PM ^
damn, Oceans Eleven was in 2001? Fuck I feel old now.
January 27th, 2015 at 9:51 PM ^
entertainer he was was a mime? Would it be fair to force him to talk?
Teller still gets paid.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:43 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 3:49 PM ^
I dont have PTSD but for sure have social anxiety issues. Would make neervous as hel to sit up there and answer questions and have cameras constantly going off and bright lights in your face
January 27th, 2015 at 5:10 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^
Part of his job's obligation is to speak to the media. He gives up his right to a certain level of privacy by signing an NFL contract. At some point, if the NFL really wants to make a point, they will have to have him sit out games.
January 27th, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 3:07 PM ^
I agree the whole thing is childish on all sides (lynch, nfl, media) but it is in his contract. Many jobs require people to do things they do not like to do.
January 27th, 2015 at 2:59 PM ^
Lynch is obligated, as a player employed by a team that is part of the National Football League to observe certain codes of conduct. In this regard, i.e., making himself available to the press and to answer their questions, he has no rights. Doing what he is doing may satisfy the formal requirement, but certainly not the substantive component. I don't know just how, or if, the NFLPA would defend him.
If I were the NFL, I'd give him a few opportunities and then suspend him indefinitely, and he can exercise plan "B" which, I suspect, won't pay anywhere near as well.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 3:40 PM ^
A Russian peasant owned one well-producing cow, but was miserable because his neighbor had two.
One day, good fortune shined on this peasant: A sorcerer--passing by the peasant's house--saw the peasant and took a liking to him. He approached the peasant and announced, "Good Comrade, I am a Sorcerer, and today is your lucky day! I will grant you one wish."
The peasant replied, "I want one of my neighbor's cows to die."
January 27th, 2015 at 8:57 PM ^
You may be onto something. Lynch should answer questions with nonsensicle parables. How long do you think the press would bother him if every question was answered with something that made them think about what the hell he was trying to convey, but ultimately made no sense. Particularly if he rambled on for hours.
Do you think you'll have a good game?
Once in Eastern Lituania, a boy was born with only nine toes. When he grew up to be.... (never any mention of nine toes or why that might be relevant is mentioned during the next two and a half hours)
January 27th, 2015 at 6:00 PM ^
He's only obligated out of the formal requirement, he's formally fufilling that requirment. If you want to switch the argument to morality than you're on thin ice including that formal obligation.
If the NFL starts getting rid of good football players that people like to follow because they're not good at talking they're idiots.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:04 PM ^
The whole "talk to the media" thing is so antiquated though. At a time, it was needed to gain interest in the sport, but football isn't going anywhere regardless if the players talk to the media or not.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:18 PM ^
At this point it is very likely he actual social anxiety disorder and is being forced into something he's clearly uncomfrotable doing. I don't mean "he doesn't want to" I mean you can see it upsets him on an emotional level and he's really not comfortable doing it all.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
Yeah. The whole thing -- the NFL fines and the fact that reporters won't just leave the man alone -- is fucking ridiculous.
Some people think he's doing it for attention or whatever, to me that just seems ridiculous. Attention is clearly the last thing he wants.
I mean damn, did you see the one interview where the only things he said were 1) "yea", 2) "maybe", and 3) "I have a charity event coming up to benefit inner-city youth". Dude's awesome if you ask me. After he retires from ball, they should hire him to be director of media relations at Fort Schembechler.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
Yeah, I never understood this. He isn't going to give the reporters anything to use except silence, and they could write 99% of their articles about how "enigmatic" this guy is without the hassle.
That said, I absolutely expect to read an article in 4-5 years when he is out of the league about how "misunderstood" he was and how the media unfairly treated him as opposed to him not wanting to answer questions but also being a bit of an ass given the fact he's paid millions of dollars to play football and, as part of that agreement, he is expected to deal with some media responsibilities. I doubt he cares and I'm fine with him blowing off reporters if he wants, but he's not a victim here either. Lots of athletes don't like talking to the press but do so in a more constructive manner.
January 27th, 2015 at 2:51 PM ^
He can't go away or else he gets fined. That's the whole thing.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
its childish, seattle pays the dude millions to play ball but also expects him to act like a professional.
still its hilarious, im amazed hes taken it this far
January 27th, 2015 at 5:45 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 3:26 PM ^
You think he wants to be there giving his "shtick"? He wants nothing more than to just go away. He wants to be left alone and the media should do just that.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:26 PM ^
Or the media could just leave him the hell alone. At this point (and I live in Seattle), I really don't care a whit about the rights of the media to demand that anyone answer their questions (and I felt the same way about Lloyd Carr).
Fining this guy because he doen't answer questions in a particular way or because he doesn't show up to answer questions is just stupid. I'd feel the same way it was Tiger Woods or Tom Brady or anyone else.
January 27th, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 3:02 PM ^
It is about conduct, just like the Ray Rice matter was/is about conduct. Bad conduct reflects negatively on the NFL which potentially impacts their audience.
He has two options; play by their rules or find other employment.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
Did you really just equate speaking to the media with punching your wife in the face??
January 27th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
No...you derived the equation and the equality. I said they were both about conduct. The point was that conduct detrimental to the league is not acceptable. And, fwiw, until very recently, the not quite so holy NFL seemed to do a pretty good job of overlooking domestic battery.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:21 PM ^
you did when you said him speaking is like Ray Rice punching his fiancee.
No one made any connection except you.
I can guarantee beyond 1 million percent that the Seahawks do not give a single flying fuck if he talks to the media compared to how he plays. That is the NFL being stupid and obsessive about it. The Seahawks don't make either super bowl without him, they would not trade that him talking to moron reporters in any reality.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:50 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 4:22 PM ^
Because one refers to two related matters doesn't necessarily equate them. Using your logic, and applying it to crime, murder is the same as making an illegal left turn because someone used the two terms in a sentence when referring to crimes.
It's not about Lynch's playmaking abilities, which is a straw man. It is solely about an NFL policy that Lynch is obligated to follow. Nothing more, nothing less.
Do you think any player, with the possible exception of Richard Sherman, who likes to open his mouth, wants to be out there being asked the same dumb questions time after time? The answer is no, but they appear because the league requires them to do so.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 3:11 PM ^
Awesome first post!
January 27th, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^
Really....it is a simple issue of employment law and employee obligations which set the metes and bounds of the discussion.
Ray Rice was a conduct issue just as drug testing and failed drug tests are conduct issues just like Lynch wearing gold bottom shoes and not talking to the press is a matter of conduct.
In matters of conduct, Lynch largely left his rigts at the door when he signed his contract and is paid millions of dollars a year for the privilege.