American Hero #2- Marshawn Lynch

This past season, Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch quickly became my favorite NFL player. This distinction has nothing to do with his on-field talent-- I hear he had a pretty good year, but I've never seen him play except in highlights and on SportsCenter. No, the reason I like our young philosopher is for his interview skills. I came across this video of him from Buffalo Bills training camp (Marshawn is on the left):

This led me to discover a great segment on SportsCenter where Marshawn was interviewed by Kenny Mayne:

Finally, I came across a clip of Marshawn from his days at Cal:

Needless to say, Marshawn is my new favorite NFL player and he should be yours too. If that doesn't clinch it for you, let me present Exhibit D. Marshawn Lynch has his own blog on YardBarker that he updates on a semi-monthly basis. The writing is exactly the eloquent, free-flowing verse you would expect from a Cal-Berkeley graduate. An example from our young esteemed philosopher:

"whats good yardbarkers what it do its ya local neighborhood running back outta OAKLAND....in buffalo playin for da bills...if u looked at da headline reading DAMN its cause ive been out 4 da past two weeks and its been hurting me not to b out der wit ma teammates even if we losing....i just cant wait til i can get back out der wit ma bra bras (teammates).....but dis just ma lil intro until i can get back to yall wit a lil mo....stay solid til next time" (YardBarker)

So here's to you, Mr. Lynch, you poet of the pigskin. You are an inspiration to us all--an illiterate college graduate making millions a year to play a game you love. Whenever I'm struggling to write, and can't quite get into Beast Mode, I think of you, and somehow it always comes out solid. Way too solid.