"I'm only here so I won't get fined". Over and over again, Seattle Seahawks' running back Marshawn Lynch said the same thing to a throng of reporters on "media day" leading up to the Super Bowl.
Was what he did OK or not? There's two different ways of looking at it. Let's consider them both.
1) Most of us can likely agree with Roger Goodell on at least one thing. Playing in the NFL is a privilege -- not a right. Regardless of how good he might be, when a player enters the league and starts collecting those hefty paychecks and enjoying the perks that come along with it -- he also agrees to play by NFL rules.
Like it or not, one of those long-standing rules has been players will make themselves available to the media on certain occasions. After all, the beat writers, columnists and talking heads are just trying to do their jobs. Interviewing players gives the media an in-depth look into the sport which they can then pass along to the public. And who would dispute that the media has been instrumental in the NFL becoming as wildly successful as it is? If nobody wrote about, broadcast it, and provided the hype over the years, it's a pretty safe bet the league wouldn't have grown into the all-consuming monster it has become.
Along that line of reason, it's likely also safe to say the prices wouldn't have spiralled into the world of the absurd. This includes tickets, parking, concessions, and especially player salaries.
Guys like Marshawn Lynch wouldn't be making anywhere near the preposterous sum of $8,000,000 a year to run with a football if it weren't for how the media has propelled them (and the game) into "stardom" over the years.
So in that sense, one would think the least Lynch could do was talk frankly to reporters for an hour or so here and there, especially on Super Bowl media day. Snubbing the same people came off as Lynch being an unappreciative ingrate. Dare I use the phrases ego maniac, self entitled, and all-around smug SOB?
People that share this opinion have a valid point.
2) However, there's a flip side to this coin. It could certainly be argued that the NFL's mandate itself has not only been wrong all along, but egregiously so. Name the profession and in no other walk of life can one be compelled to talk to reporters if one doesn't wish to.
Sure, reporters can and will pry with their cameras and microphones to get a story here and there, but any individual certainly has the right to decline an interview, regardless of how "hot" the issue may be and the public craving for the news. Forcing them to do so would seem tantamount to a sort of Inquisition and isn't America supposed to be above such tramplings of basic human rights?
If someone doesn't want to talk for whatever reasons, then so be it. Good grief, even those accused of the most heinous crimes are afforded their right to silence under the long-standing Miranda ruling.
Yet jocks like Lynch face a choice of either making an appearance to answer questions he clearly doesn't wish to, or getting zapped with a hefty fine if he refuses to show. This, while knowing full well every word he utters will be dissected and spun to whatever advantage some would make of it. One misstatement and the media vultures will eat him alive and broadcast it to millions -- repeatedly. Certainly he should have a right to decline such an interview, considering the potential risks involved.
People that share this opinion have an equally valid point.
So Marshawn Lynch split the difference. He showed up, but only offered the same response to the variety of questions -- as mentioned at the beginning of this article. Like him or not, it was actually quite a brilliant tactic. Technically, he abided by NFL rules, but didn't allow himself to get caught up in the barrage of withering questions and follow-ups the media was after. This is no more or less than your average politician does during a debate -- with one notable difference. They won't answer questions either -- but they've perfected a way of convincing the idiots they have. Lynch was just more blunt about it. Maybe there's a reason after all why his salary dwarfs those of governors, senators, and the Prez. Well played, Marshawn.
Ah hell, he's probably going to get fined anyway. Goodell and company will figure out a way. And I, for one, didn't much care for his holier-than-thou attitude, so I hope he does.
Further, as long as the the NFL is into stupid rules, maybe they should make a new one. No pimp shades allowed during press conferences.
Is that too much to ask?
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