Marshawn Lynch, who faced NFL fines for not talking to reporters, appears to have made his peace with the media, says KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel.
The Seahawk took reporters’ questions for 15 minutes on Thursday morning, just a day after the Football Writers Association of America lodged a complaint with the NFL regarding access to Lynch.
“He appeared in front of the media with his aide de camp and horse whisperer, Michael Robinson,” said Art. “Michael has been a great asset and a great friend to Lynch, and the two of them together kind of entertained everyone.”
Lynch appeared more relaxed, both in his manner and in his answers, said Art.
“Marshawn wasn’t necessarily loquacious in his answers — sometimes it was short, sometimes it was a couple sentences — but it was much better than yesterday,” he said.
Lynch’s appearance on Thursday was in stark contrast to Wednesday’s, which Art calls “a bit of a debacle.” While fielding questions with Robinson, Lynch abruptly got up and walked across chairs to leave the room after just seven minutes.
“It was really awkward,” said Art.
The incident and Lynch’s reluctance to answer questions at media day prompted writers to file a complaint. However, the NFL responded by saying Lynch had fulfilled his contractual obligations to make himself available to the media.
By Thursday, the whole thing appeared to be a non-issue, said Art.
“It was a lot of sound and fury really signifying nothing, because today, Marshawn handled the media just fine,” he said.
