{"id":5013,"date":"2015-01-31T15:20:20","date_gmt":"2015-01-31T21:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=5013"},"modified":"2015-01-31T16:14:47","modified_gmt":"2015-01-31T22:14:47","slug":"lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynch\u2019s silence keeps media talking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Bennet Hayes<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nfl.com\/videos\/nfl-super-bowl-media-sessions\/0ap3000000464167\/I-m-just-here-so-I-won-t-get-fined\">\u201cI\u2019m here so I won\u2019t get fined.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>By the letter of the law \u2013 or at least the NFL\u2019s version of it &#8212; Marshawn Lynch fulfilled his duties at Tuesday\u2019s Super Bowl Media Day. Never mind that he uttered the same seven-word phrase in response to every question, or that he took leave of the podium immediately after the NFL-mandated 270 seconds had elapsed. By the barest requirements, Lynch fulfilled his media obligations on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p><script height=\"275px\" width=\"770px\" src=\"http:\/\/player.ooyala.com\/iframe.js#ec=5qODcxczomwmnEBoSGIZDMiXZO9VFQed&#038;pbid=c8cff4cec9d94ae0896f6443af7ee837\"><\/script><br \/>\n<em>Video clip <a href=\"http:\/\/q13fox.com\/2015\/01\/27\/marshawn-lynch-at-media-day-im-just-here-so-i-wont-get-fined\/\" title=\"Marshawn Lynch repeats himself\" target=\"_blank\">via KCPQ-TV.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>But in the hours since Lynch stepped off the podium in Glendale, debate has raged. Does the Seahawks star tailback owe the world \u2013 media, fans and the NFL alike &#8212; more than those seven words?<\/p>\n<p>Many media members seem to think so.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/nfl\/la-sp-marshawn-lynch-plaschke-20150128-column.html#page=1\">Bill Plaschke wrote on LATimes.com<\/a> that Lynch\u2019s actions were \u201cequally obstinate and outrageous.\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/jeffnixon.sportsblog.com\/\">On his blog<\/a>, ex-Bills defensive back Jeff Nixon pointed out that \u201cno one forced Mr. Lynch to sign contracts that require him and all NFL players to talk to the media.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ed Sherman of the Sherman Report went as far as to <a href=\"http:\/\/sportsjournalism.org\/sports-media-news\/boycott-skittles-marshawn-lynch-monetizes-mocking-of-media\/\">suggest sports journalists should punish Lynch\u2019s most visible corporate sponsor by boycotting Skittles.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But not every sports journalist was outraged by Lynch\u2019s relative silence.<\/p>\n<p>John Mullin, Bears writer for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.csnchicago.com\/\" title=\"CSN Chicago\" target=\"_blank\">CSNChicago.com<\/a>, finds the act more entertaining than offensive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI find this far more amusing,\u201d Mullin said. \u201cFor the media, it\u2019s a much better story for him not to be talking. If he were available he\u2019d just be one more athlete.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI find some of this stuff (in the media\u2019s response) so eye-rollingly stupid \u2013 it\u2019s a much better story that he\u2019s not talking. The media should be thanking him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark Carman, former host on The Game 87.7 FM and current FanSided.com contributor, also failed to understand the media\u2019s exasperation with the five-time Pro Bowler.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think journalists should care in this particular instance because you\u2019ve got the Seattle Seahawks, who have maybe the most interesting locker room in the NFL,\u201d Carman said. \u201cIf he doesn\u2019t want to talk, you\u2019ve got a million different compelling guys in there who do want to talk, will talk, and will say something interesting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just don\u2019t see the whole \u2018We gotta get him to speak.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mullin said he understood why Lynch wouldn\u2019t want to talk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAthletes who have said things have often been so abused for it,\u201d Mullin said. \u201cKyle Long last season remarked that Bears fans should just be a little more quiet when they have the ball and be a little more noisy when opponents have the ball. He was crucified for that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen they speak up, they get hammered. The media has reaped what it sowed.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"quoteright\">\u201cI don\u2019t think building his brand is his purpose at all. I just think he\u2019s being a jerk.&#8221; &#8212; John Mullin, CSNChicago.com<\/div>\n<p>But while opinions may vary among journalists, Lynch appears to have won over his most important constituency: the fans.<\/p>\n<p>During those now famous four and a half minutes on the podium, spectators cheered every one of Lynch\u2019s 29 identical responses. Plaschke called him \u201cthe most popular man at the Super Bowl\u201d and <a href=\"http:\/\/grantland.com\/the-triangle\/everybody-loves-marshawn-lynch\/\">Grantland published a story Wednesday titled \u201cEverybody Loves Marshawn Lynch.\u201d<\/a> Various national polls have indicated that more than 80 percent of fans approve of Lynch\u2019s actions, according to the LA Times.<\/p>\n<p>To Carman, the entire charade has been counterintuitive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy original take on it was he\u2019s only hurting himself,\u201d Carman said. \u201cNot only is he getting fined and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he\u2019s also missing out an opportunity to build his brand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut really, he has only garnered more attention. When he does talk, he\u2019s just not that interesting. Him not talking has actually made him more interesting. It\u2019s worked out in a really weird way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pete Carroll says that Lynch \u201cis just being true to himself.\u201d Lynch, predictably, has never fully explained his disdain for interacting with the media.<\/p>\n<p>Mullin sees no selfish motivations behind Lynch\u2019s (few) words.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think building his brand is his purpose at all,\u201d Mullin said. \u201cI just think he\u2019s being a jerk. (Lynch) probably should be more available to his fans, or the general public.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut hell hath no fury like a sportswriter scorned \u2013 that\u2019s kind of the deal here.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Counter on lower left shows Marhsawn Lynch had hit 28 recitations of &#8220;I&#8217;m just here so I won&#8217;t be fined&#8221; at this point. Still taken from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nfl.com\/videos\/nfl-super-bowl-media-sessions\/0ap3000000464167\/I-m-just-here-so-I-won-t-get-fined\" title=\"NFL.com video of Lynch.\" target=\"_blank\">NFL.com video.<\/a> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Bennet Hayes \u201cI\u2019m here so I won\u2019t get fined.\u201d By the letter of the law \u2013 or at least the NFL\u2019s version of it &#8212; Marshawn Lynch fulfilled his duties at Tuesday\u2019s Super Bowl Media Day. Never mind that he uttered the same seven-word phrase in response to every question, or that he took [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":5017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-5013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lynch\u2019s silence keeps media talking - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lynch\u2019s silence keeps media talking - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bennet Hayes \u201cI\u2019m here so I won\u2019t get fined.\u201d By the letter of the law \u2013 or at least the NFL\u2019s version of it &#8212; Marshawn Lynch fulfilled his duties at Tuesday\u2019s Super Bowl Media Day. 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Never mind that he uttered the same seven-word phrase in response to every question, or that he took [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2015-01-31T21:20:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-01-31T22:14:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":750,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/01\/lynch-nfl.com-grab-1200.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"bennethayes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"bennethayes","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/","name":"Lynch\u2019s silence keeps media talking - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/01\/lynch-nfl.com-grab-1200.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-31T21:20:20+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-31T22:14:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/1fdfe6a5e8d604f481dad5aeecf772d8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/lynchs-silence-keeps-media-talking\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/01\/lynch-nfl.com-grab-1200.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/01\/lynch-nfl.com-grab-1200.jpg","width":1200,"height":750,"caption":"Counter on lower left shows Marhsawn Lynch had hit 28 recitations of \"I'm just here so I won't be fined\" at this point. 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