Seahawks re-sign Lynch to a 4-year $31 million deal
Okay, so this isn’t exactly breaking news but on 3/4/2012 the Seahawks were able to re-signed the NFL‘s top running back of the second half of last season.
The anti-Alexander
Marshawn Lynch runs hard every-time he touches the ball. It doesn’t matter if he is at the 1-yard line or mid-field. If he has a huge hole or a wall of defenders he is going to give everything he has to eek out every last yard.
If you remember Shaun Alexander playing like that you only watched him near the goal line.
Mostly I remember a guy who loved the limelight, was standoffish to fans and fell down if a blade of grass was out of place.
Rarely can a single tackler bring down this 25 year old running back. Watching “Beast-quake” and the debut of the “Baby Stiff-Arm” never gets old.
A face for the franchise
The Seahawks have been missing a face for the franchise since Matt Hasselbeck departed. Sure the Seahawks have a bunch of very good young talented players but Marshawn Lynch has the “it” factor. He is a young man who is very like-able and he always has a smile on his face having fun both on and off the field.
Lynch is signed, sealed, and will deliver in 2012.
Skittle power
Chances are if you are taking the time to read this you already know that the “Beast” runs on Skittles. The question is have you eaten one recently?
I hadn’t had any since I was a kid and remembered liking them. So the other day I decided to try them for the first time as an adult. Wow, they are so sugary that I nearly choked to death.
I drink a lot of coffee, I take it black and I have even been know to chew on coffee beans but never have I gotten a shot of energy like that.
Someone needs to talk to Skittles about setting up stations for fans during the game to get tweaked out on sugar rushes.
Think we were loud before?
The flights to Boeing Field will hear us as they fly by.
The Seahawks didn’t’ break the bank
Can we agree that Marshawn is a top ten back in the NFL?
I definitely think he is.
Let’s take a moment to look at the top 10 highest paid running backs last season:
- Jamaal Charles – $12,350,000= $1,029,167/carry, $148,795/yard and he never scored a touchdown
- Adrian Peterson – $11,320,000= $54,423/carry, $11,670/yard or $943,333/touchdown
- Steven Jackson – $9,848,332= $37,878/carry, $8,601/yard or $1,969,666/TD
- Darren McFadden – $8,121,667= $71,873/carry, $13,227/yard or $2,030,416/TD
- Maurice Jone-Drew – $7,910,000= $23,061/carry, $4,925/yard or $988,750/TD
- Michael Turner – $7,500,000= $24,916/carry, $5,597/yard or $681,818/TD
- Frank Gore – $7,133,000= $25,294/carry, $5,890/yard or $891,625/TD
- Brandon Jacobs – $6,962,500= $45,805/carry, $12,193/yard or $994,642/TD
- Chris Johnson – $6,280,000= $23,969/carry, $5,998/yard or $1,570,000/TD
- Cedric Benson – $5,000,000= $18,315/carry, $4,686/yard or $833,333/TD
For the purpose of comparison I am going to take Marshawn’s new contract for the 2012 season and use the numbers from the 2011 season for the breakdown (since the 2012 season has yet to take place)
Marshawn Lynch (2012) $4,000,000= $14,035/carry, $3,322/yard or $333,333/TD
Thats $1 million less than Benson in salary, over $4,000 less per carry, $3,164 less per yard and $500,000 per touchdown.
Four-year $31 million contract with $17 million guaranteed seems like a bargain when you compare him to the other top backs in the league.
He has redeemed himself
Early in his career Lynch had a couple legal issues (a hit-and-run accident and a misdemeanor gun charge) that he plead guilty to. The gun charge led to a 3-game suspension to start off the 2009 season.
This was the beginning of the end for Marshawn in Buffalo.
The fan base had grown tired of his off the field issues as did the team.
That is in stark contrast to the guy we know as a Seahawk. When he was traded to Seattle the organization and the 12th man gave him a clean slate.
They didn’t care that he had issues in the past they just wanted him to prove that he had learned from his mistakes and had grown from them.
So far he has taken his second chance and ran with it. He’s found a home and a city that he loves. Marshawn has found a jersey that he can proudly put his name on and a fan base who will cheer him on to such an extent that we created a seismic event.
About Brett Bivens
