4 reasons we’re so happy Marshawn Lynch is back in the NFL

Marshawn Lynch is back in the NFL, and we couldn’t be happier about it. Even though he continued to entertain us during his retirement by starting a fire with one of his dreads in the wilderness with Bear Grylls and riding a bike around Houston, Scotland, for a Skittles Super Bowl commercial, football wasn’t the same without his antics.

Whether Lynch was leaping over the goal line or repeating “I’m just here so I don’t get fined” so often to reporters that he eventually trademarked the phrase, he was never afraid to be himself.

There are many memorable moments from Lynch’s career that kept us waiting eagerly to see what he would do or say next. We’re looking forward to adding many more to this collection from Lynch’s new chapter with the Oakland Raiders.

Marshawn’s personality was on display from the moment he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2007.

Buffalo isn’t a hotbed of culture or nightlife, but Lynch’s sense of humor was on display in this segment with Kenny Mayne for ESPN.

Lynch cares about how he performs on the field, but it seems like he could take or leave most things off of it. He didn’t join the Seahawks at the White House after Seattle’s Super Bowl XLVIII win because he just didn’t feel like going.

It looked like he might miss the Seahawks’ parade, too, but he showed up and did it all in the most Marshawn Lynch way possible — on the hood of the Sea Gals’ duck boat, smoking a cigar, drinking Fireball, and beating a drum.

Lynch never loved talking to the media. It was never more evident than during the week leading up to Super Bowl XLIX.

He debuted his catchphrase “I’m just here so I don’t get fined,” using those words to answer 25 questions in a row, much to reporters’ chagrin. The next day, he switched it up, telling them “You know why I’m here,” when they asked questions.

He caught a lot of heat for all of it, too, but to be fair, Super Bowl Media Day is a veritable circus, and Lynch’s answers were probably more substantive than the questions he was getting.

This approach wasn’t limited to Super Bowl week. During the regular season, Lynch responded politely to reporters without really answering a single question. It was brilliant.

Lynch explained why he doesn’t care about talking to the media in an interview with NFL Network’s Deion Sanders.

“I’m just about that action, boss,” Lynch said. “That’s what it is. I ain’t never seen no talking win me nothing.”

Former Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka found this out when he became somewhat of an unwilling dance partner for Lynch on the Seahawks’ bench.

And Lynch celebrated Seattle’s XLVII win by dancing in the locker room while (sort of) answering questions for the media.

Lynch coined his own nickname, Beast Mode, when he came into the league. Those words came to represent his style of play, best epitomized by his two Beast Quake runs.

In the first one, against the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round following the 2011 season, Lynch made contact with seven different Saints defenders, none of whom came close to slowing him down, on his way to the end zone. The Saints had finished the regular season 13-3 and were heavily favored to beat the home team. Seattle went 7-9 in 2011 and made it into the postseason by being just good enough to win the NFC West with a losing record.

The “Quake” part of its name came from the seismic activity at CenturyLink Field immediately after Lynch’s touchdown. It registered as a magnitude-one earthquake, SB Nation’s Matt Ufford learned from John Vidale, the director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

And that wasn’t the only time Lynch pulled off a Beast Quake. In 2014, he pulled off the longest touchdown run of his career, bouncing off multiple Arizona Cardinals defenders en route to a 79-yard touchdown. The Week 16 win over the Cardinals helped the Seahawks lock up the NFC West.

During a visit to the NFL Films Studio, Lynch narrated his original Beast Quake run. Lynch’s commentary is probably the only thing that could make this play better.

We can’t get enough of Beast Quake, or anything else Marshawn does, and we’re thrilled he’s back.