Marshawn Lynch must explain mystery of his anthem sit-down.
Let me be very clear about this, because it is a sensitive and important topic:
I am 100 percent supportive of Marshawn Lynch’s protest, the one in which he sat on a Gatorade cooler during the national anthem Saturday night in Arizona, holding a banana.
However, I support his protest only if it was a protest.
If it was something else, like Lynch just forgot to stand, or was too hungry to stand or just didn’t feel like standing, then I’ll evaluate that if and when he lets us know why he wasn’t standing.
Right now, it’s a mystery. I hope he lets us in on what’s up, whether by addressing the media from training camp in Napa or through social media.
Maybe Lynch will break it down for us soon, tell us what’s happening. Maybe he won’t. Lynch has elevated blowing off the media to performance art.
It would be nice if he clues us in, because sitting out the national anthem is a big deal. While waiting for word from Planet Marshawn, here’s my wild guess:
The sit-down wasn’t unintentional or accidental. Lynch has a distinctive style. He runs hard into people on the field, and he runs hard into authority off the field, and he makes no apologies.
If he is protesting, here’s one thing I would like to know: Lynch’s sit-down took place a few hours after the violent ugliness in Charlottesville, Va., and after the president of the United States declined to condemn the hate groups responsible for the deadly violence.
Is Lynch protesting that violence? Is he protesting in support of Colin Kaepernick, who remains unemployed even though NFL teams are now signing backup quarterbacks from beach pickup games?
If Lynch chooses not to explain his sit-down, he surrenders any power a protest might have.
Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio said Saturday night that Lynch told him he (Lynch) always has sat out the anthem. This is not true. There are videos of Lynch standing, and Seattle sportswriters say he sometimes waited until after the anthem to take the field.
This opens up the possibility that Lynch wasn’t protesting; he is simply the type of guy who does things without really giving much thought to the fallout, like an absentminded fellow who doesn’t wipe his muddy feet on the mat before coming into the house.
We know Lynch is sympathetic to Kaepernick, because last year, Lynch appeared on Conan O’Brien’s TV show and expressed support for Kaepernick and his protest.
If Lynch would like to throw his support behind Kaepernick, again, he has my 100 percent approval, for whatever that’s worth. But by not explaining, Lynch risks being Marlon Brando’s character in “The Wild Ones.” When wild Johnny is asked what he’s rebelling against, he says, “Whattaya got?”
If Lynch simply didn’t feel like standing, that doesn’t bother me. He wasn’t refusing to stand, by the way, he was
choosing not to stand. There is no league rule against sitting out the anthem, and as far as we know, no team rule, so Lynch wasn’t refusing anything.
Until further notice, choice is one of those distinctively American things that we Americans supposedly cherish.
If Lynch’s sit-down was a protest, whether or not it continues, he brought his distinctive style to that party.
Kaepernick, after a talk with a war veteran, altered his protest from sit-down to kneeldown, which defused some of the hate and anger. Lynch skipped that nicety. He parked his butt on a cooler, which might indicate that he’s not interested in anyone else’s version of protest etiquette. Emily Post can kiss his Beast Mode you-know-what.
The banana? That’s anyone’s guess. It could be a symbol of racism. Or maybe Lynch was just hungry.
Del Rio isn’t happy with what Lynch did. When Kaepernick protested last season, Del Rio was asked his reaction. He said he preferred that his players honor the anthem by standing at attention.
The Raiders’ Bruce Irvin and Malcolm Smith supported Kaepernick’s protest last year, in Tennessee before Game 3, by raising a fist during the anthem. Both men had been teammates of Lynch in Seattle.
Del Rio had a discussion with Irvin and Smith, and they protested no more.
On Saturday, Del Rio told the media, “I said (to Lynch), ‘Just so you understand how I feel, I very strongly believe in standing for the national anthem, but I’m going to respect you as a man. You do your thing, OK?’ So that’s a nonissue for me.”
Not true. If the sit-downs continue, this won’t be the last time Del Rio will be grilled on the topic.
Del Rio isn’t alone. Probably the great majority of team owners and coaches oppose anthem protesting. But they won’t say much, for fear of alienating their black players, in a league that is 70 percent black. They will be uncomfortable if Lynch is protesting, which would make his protest (if that’s what it is) even more enjoyable.
A Lynch protest could carry weight. He was born and raised in inner-city Oakland, and he does a lot of his charity work there. He co-founded the Fam 1st Family Foundation, “to improve the lives of children by mentoring them on the importance of education, literacy and self-esteem.”
Lynch’s platform is stronger because he doesn’t have Kaepernick’s extra baggage: the pig socks, Castro shirts and anti-voting beliefs.
Lynch could be a strong and powerful voice, but only if we can find out what he’s saying.