When Marshawn Lynch decided to call it quits on the NFL, retiring from the Seattle Seahawks at the age of 30, most weren’t surprised.
Why not? More and more players keep deciding to hang up the cleats and live comfortably and Lynch had just hit the dreaded age of 30, where running backs mostly fall off the cliff anyway.
Now, though, this status might be “up in the air” based on a note by Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab:
But there was a report on Thursday that indicated he might be reconsidering the whole retirement thing. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said on NBC’s pregame show before the Carolina Panthers played the Denver Broncos that Lynch is “up in the air” about returning to football, and to keep an eye on the story about Week 4 or 5.
To counter this note, though, Michael Robinson spoke with Lynch himself, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:
“I called BeastMode. Record this, everybody. Marshawn Lynch is retired, he told me from his own mouth.” https://t.co/bpFydQThkv
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 9, 2016
So which is it?
At the end of the day, Lynch is a business man and he’s doing great if his name sticks in the headlines. Should he actually want to return, Seattle would still own his rights. If he does it gets interesting, as the Seahawks might not want to pay him the cash he’s owed, meaning they could cut or trade him.
There’s no telling which way this one will swing. Beast Mode left the building, but there’s an outside chance he’s already stuck a toe back in the door to stop it from closing.