In the middle of the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 50, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch dropped this cryptic bomb on the NFL populace -- seemingly signaling an impending retirement:
— Shawn Lynch (@MoneyLynch) February 8, 2016
According to a report by ESPN's Adam Schefter early Sunday morning, Lynch has been telling people in his inner circle that he intends to hang them up as an active NFL player. The above picture reinforces Schefter's report in emphatic, if not indirect fashion. More Seahawks news and rumors inside Chat Sports' iPhone and Android apps!
Teammates have reportely been trying to change Lynch's mind, but to no avail. Lynch, 30, was limited to just 417 yards on 111 carries in 2015 because of an early-season hamstring injury and abdominal surgery which sidelined him for the final seven games of the regular season.
He rushed just six times for 20 yards in the team's divisional round loss to the Panthers.
Lynch has always had a tenuous relationship with the media, so it's no surprise that his retirement came at the most inopportune time for reporters to jump on the story -- halfway through the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 50 in the middle of a one-score game.
However, Lynch couldn't stop the coverage train. Within minutes, Twitter was flooded with well wishes and "don't go" retirement tweets as the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers slogged through a defensive showdown in Santa Clara.
Denver won the game 24-10, but Money Lynch will find himself in the headlines alongside Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, Peyton Manning and the rest of the triumphant Broncos.
Lynch amassed 9,112 yards over a nine-year career, posting four straight 1,200 yard-plus seasons from 2011-14 after being traded from Buffalo to Seattle. Retirement speculation has dogged Lynch for almost two years now, but it likely took an injury-plagued 2015 season to cement his decision.
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