Marshawn Lynch retires from football

Just two days after turning 33-years-old, news broke that Marshawn Lynch was retiring from the NFL.

Lynch spent the past two seasons with his hometown team—the Oakland Raiders—although the team plans to vacate his hometown in 2020. In his first year in the silver and black, Lynch started 15 games and ran for 891 yards and 7 touchdowns. Most notably, Lynch finished the regular season by eclipsing 10,000 career rushing yards—the 31st player in NFL history to do so. 2018 was less stellar for Lynch, who rushed for fewer than 400 yards in 6 games before a season-ending groin injury. Lynch initially signed a two-year deal with the Raiders, so it would appear that he fulfilled his contractual obligations to the team.

This is Lynch’s second retirement, with the first coming at the end of the 2015 season. Lynch had spent six seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. This is where Lynch truly made a name for himself, surpassing 1000 yards rushing in each of the four seasons in which he played at least 15 games. I imagine he officially entered the lore of that trash hump of a town by leading the team to two Super Bowl appearances (including one win) and the Beast Quake run.

Prior to his time up north, Lynch entered the league as the 12th-overall pick in the 2007 Draft to the Buffalo Bills. Lynch spent his first full three seasons (and four games of the 2010 season) with the Bills and surpassed 1000 yards in his two first seasons. Lynch also made his love for Buffalo and Applebee’s quite public—how about that ambiance?

Of course, we all truly care most about his time at Cal. Playing three seasons for the California Golden Bears (2004–2006), Lynch played in 12 games as a true freshman and eclipsed 1000 yards in his sophomore and junior years. Lynch earned national recognition by various outlets—including Heisman hype—and all-conference honors during his time here. Lynch also regularly gives back to the school, getting back into the pads for a surprise appearance in our 2013 Spring Game and spending time helping the team in 2016 as scout-team running back when we visited Australia. Plus, he had this infamous moment:

We wish you many Skittles in your retirement, Marshawn!