Beast Mode Cashes In

“I’m just here so I won’t get fined,” Marshawn Lynch told the horde of reporters gathered around him on Super Bowl Media Day. True to his word, Lynch refused to answer a single question thrown at him, repeating that same phrase 28 more times in the mandatory five-minute press conference.

The reporters could not have expected much else. For the past few years, Lynch, a star running back for the Seattle Seahawks, has adopted a uniquely awkward and defiant stance with the media. Although he has rarely skipped his contractually mandated media appearances (all NFL players must be available to reporters as little as ten minutes after a game), Lynch has often refused to give a straight answer to any question, or to even say more than a single phrase.

“Yeah,” he responded to every question after the Seahawks beat the Cardinals on November 23rd.

“Thanks for asking,” he said again and again after a win on December 22nd.

After the Seahawks’ first playoffs win, it was “I’m thankful.”

Lynch’s behavior has divided media opinion while infuriating the NFL league office. Commissioner Roger Goodell fined him $131,050 this season alone for skipping media appearances, and for repeatedly grabbing his crotch after scoring touchdowns. Shirking the Media Day interview would allegedly have cost him $500,000 more. It seems patently unfair for a private person like Lynch to have to endure painfully uncomfortable media sessions week after week. After all, it is likely that his behavior with the media initially stemmed from shyness, anxiety, or a genuine fear that his words would be twisted.

There is an easy way that most professional athletes choose to handle the media — picking from a set of universally acceptable answers to common press conference questions. Nearly every athlete, from the most personable to the most introverted, learns the routine early on:

“All I care about is getting a win.”

“We put it all on the line.”

“We didn’t make excuses.”

“I give all the credit to my teammates.”

“So and so really stepped it up tonight.  I’m proud of him/her.”

“We just played within ourselves.”

“We had our backs against the wall.”

“We’re just taking it one game at a time.”

These one-liners serve several purposes. They provide a bevy of appropriate responses, allowing the most sought after or the most anonymous athletes to satisfy their media requirements. The media exposure gives the fans the illusion of being closer to their sports heroes than they really are. Perhaps most importantly, these clichés are so tame and familiar that they could not possibly incite controversy. A clichéd press conference is a non-story.

But for Lynch, every press conference is a story, and regardless of what he might lead people to believe. And he’s just fine with that. Whatever his original intentions were, Lynch’s performance before the media has become an act of shrewd self-marketing.

Lynch’s invented persona is not limited to his press conferences. Many fans know Lynch by his nickname, Beast Mode. The moniker arose from his powerful running style, but has grown to incorporate all the facets of a cartoon hero. On the field, Lynch hides his face behind a black visor and celebrates touchdowns with the most infamous crotch grab since Michael Jackson. But he has never been cast as a villain, because a villain would not gain strength by gulping Skittles, which Lynch often does on the sidelines during games, including the Super Bowl. A villain might make a show of hating interactions with the press, but he would not do so with a smile on his face. Most of all, a villain would not come across as being persecuted by the league, a corporation which itself has unwittingly snatched the villain role over the past few years.

Any time Commissioner Goodell tries to force Lynch to conform on or off the field, such as when he threatened to have Lynch ejected from the NFC Championship game if he wore his preferred cleats, which were painted with 24-karat gold leaf, it only reminds people more serious crimes of other NFL players. Multiple players have been arrested in recent years for crimes ranging from spousal and child abuse to murder, and several of them went totally unpunished, or were only lightly disciplined, by the league. It rings hollow when Goodell speaks of Lynch’s obligations to the fans, seeing as the fans love him, while the NFL has been publicly accused of failing in its obligations to former players suffering long-term health problems related to their football careers. Statistically speaking, Lynch has at least twice the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or ALS before the age of 60 than he would have if he had not devoted his career to improving the TV ratings and memorabilia sales of a multibillion-dollar, tax-exempt corporation.

However, by using his Beast Mode persona for his own profit, Lynch is far from being an exploited victim. Many athletes have nicknames, but Lynch has been particularly masterful in capitalizing off of his. Beast Mode is a registered trademark, as well as a growing clothing brand. Unsurprisingly, when Lynch told everyone that he was there so he wouldn’t get fined, he was wearing a Beast Mode hat. (Perhaps wising up a bit about how their fines look to fans, the NFL declined to penalize him for advertising a non-league partner brand). After a performance in the interview that was soon referenced by Katy Perry and Tiger Woods, business was booming at the small, temporary store selling Beast Mode apparel at the site of the Super Bowl.

When the Seahawks came up short against the New England Patriots, Lynch lost both the Super Bowl and another chance to reinforce his persona. Winning means an invite to a ceremony at the White House, which Lynch chose to skip last year; as always, he quickly became the story of the trip, as President Obama joked that he’d love to tell Lynch “how much I admire his approach to the press. I want to get some tips from him.” Of course, Lynch is not opposed to all invitations. During Super Bowl Media Week, he did accept an appearance on the Conan O’Brien show, where, in his Beast Mode shirt and hat, he joked around with Conan and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. The week also saw the debut of two new ad campaigns, for Skittles and Progressive Insurance, both with plots centering on an awkward press conference.

Lynch has made awkwardness and defiance seem endearing. The few athletes that have tried Lynch’s media strategy in the past, such as NBA star Allen Iverson, who infamously went on a rant in 2002 about the unimportance of practice, have been made punch lines or villains. While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what has allowed Beast Mode to be seen differently, his consistency might be the most important factor. In seven years of Beast Mode in the NFL, virtually never have we seen the real Marshawn Lynch.

Lynch is certainly a complicated person. Although he has both a hit and run and a DUI in his past, he seems to have a genuine interest in being a role model in his hometown of Oakland, where he does extensive charitable work. Although he is a frustration for the league, he is almost universally liked and supported by his teammates and coaches. After the Super Bowl ended on a controversial decision to pass rather than hand the ball to Beast Mode, Lynch showed nothing but class, as well as uncharacteristic eloquence, saying, “football is a team sport.”

“I’m just here,” Marshawn Lynch reiterated for anyone who might have misunderstood, “so I won’t get fined.” But, as he is surely aware, disobeying the NFL’s restrictive rules and getting fined may be the best thing that could happen to him. Punishing him will look silly, and Beast Mode will continue to stand out from less interesting players. Seeking to give a hand to their hero, multiple fundraising campaigns to pay his fines have been started or pledged over the past few years. The most recent, from MeUndies.com, pledged to match any fine for a Super Bowl crotch grab with a donation to Lynch’s charity.

The crotch grab didn’t happen, but even if it had, Lynch wouldn’t have had too much trouble paying the resulting fine. Rumor has it that he is considering retiring from football at the age of 28, but the next reporter to have a grip on Lynch’s true thoughts would be the first. After receiving an offer for a huge contract extension, he will likely stay in Seattle for the foreseeable future. With a little luck and Lynch’s continued media antics, the Beast Mode brand alone should be worth millions.