Super Bowl Media Day 2015: Live coverage, updates, news and more as Patriots and Seahawks meet the media

The league said that Lynch fulfilled all of his media obligations during Super Bowl week -- he was there so he wouldn’t get fined, and he didn’t. The NFL also noted that the hat Lynch wore during his media sessions was made and given to him by an officially licensed brand, New Era, and therefore he was not in violation of league policy.

SB Nation presents: LeSean McCoy on “Answer the Question”

Tuesday’s media day was split up into two insane sessions, with the Patriots first followed by the Seahawks. Fans were given the opportunity to buy tickets to media day for $30, a price that earned them access to seating removed from the main floor where hundreds of media members scrambled to interview players and ask them dumb questions.

It could be argued that it’s silly to pay $30 to watch athletes get interviewed from a few hundred yards away, and when the Patriots were conducting their session, it was fairly tame in the arena. But when the Seahawks began their media session, it became clear that their fans were going to get their money’s worth. Chants began almost immediately, and at times the cheers were so loud that it seemed as though they were trying to drown out an audible.

Head coach Pete Carroll defended Lynch’s shyness at a press conference on Wednesday. “You are seeing a guy being himself, not what everybody wants him to be,” Carroll said, via the Los Angeles Times. “He’s being true to himself.” Carroll also added that his star running back is a respected team leader both in the locker room and on the field, which isn’t an unexpected view from Carroll, who has a reputation as a players’ coach.

Lynch put on a typical performance at Tuesday’s Super Bowl Media Day, answering every reporter’s question with some variation of this one-line answer: “I’m just here so I don’t get fined.” But there is still chance he could still get a hefty fine from the NFL because the “Beast Mode” hat that he wore doesn’t conform to the league’s regulations about which brands can be visible during media availability.

On Tuesday it was, “I’m just here so I don’t get fined,” now Marshawn Lynch has a new one-sentence answer to every inane question thrown at him: “You know why I’m here.”

Marshawn wasn’t scared off by reports the NFL might fine him for wearing his signature “Beast Mode” hat, and he certainly isn’t kowtowing to media members who are endlessly whining about how he won’t answer questions instead of walking 25 yards to the next player who will.

Jill and Jan Nguyen, twin sisters from Mesa, Ariz., showed up to Media Day toting a sign declaring their desire to “Get Gronked.” But what does “getting Gronked” actually entail?

“If you have to ask, then you can’t afford it,” said Jill.

Gronk knows what’s up. Everybody talks about his partying because the dude does it in the light of day, well the dark of night -- but he’d probably also party in the light of day; if the opportunity arose.

This Super Bowl is all about cats who are brave enough to be themselves. For Marshawn Lynch that’s not acquiescing to media pressure, for Gronk it’s being the big, lovable party animal.

All spelling errors are intentional, we think. - Ed.

PHOENIX -- The sweetest tradition of the NFL Superbowl is without a doubt media day. Hardworking journlists, strippers and puppets come from all over the globe to expect earnest answers from Bill Belichick which is like Reese Witherspoon hitchhiking her bony ass all the way from Alaska in a attempt to bang Tim Tebow.

Chris Chase asked for Lynch to be fined, regardless that he, you know, just showed up so he wouldn’t get fined. I’m sure he has a reasonable argument for this. Let’s see:

WAIT! You can actually just stop after that first sentence. That’s it. That’s all you need. The whole event is stupid. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and there are even people that go to it dressed in costume. It’s an absolutely ridiculous farce to begin with. But let’s continue:

1. Michael Bennett’s wife has the Best Butt Of All Time (BBOAT), according to Michael Bennett:

2. Media Day has a very strict dress code:

Michael Bennett: smartest dude in sports? Yes, probably.

Marshawn Lynch answered Super Bowl Media Day questions with “I’m here so I won’t get fined.” Serious Journalists got mad again because they have to fill column inches with quotes, and because they are clowns.

So whose professional sanctity is Marshawn Lynch violating with his antics? Thanks for asking.

Michael Bennett is a treasure. A one-man sound bite machine that keeps it real no matter what and provides us with endless entertainment. Dude, we freaking love you. Will you be our best friend?

Let’s listen to his explanation and watch his bike ride at the same time.

Are you sick of hearing about balls? Deflated ones, inflated ones, the average PSI of a ball, whether a flying ball is faster than an unladen African Swallow -- well, Michael Bennett isn’t sick of them. He loves them. In fact, he thinks reporters love them, too.

Just don’t ask Michael Bennett to test balls:

Marshawn Lynch was fined $100,000 this season for not speaking to the media. The only reason Lynch appeared at Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday was so he wouldn’t be hit by a reported $500,000 fine. Reporters were aghast at Lynch’s supposed stubbornness. Richard Sherman, meanwhile, a man who has never been afraid to speak his mind about the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, had a different (and perfectly reasonable) take on the entire situation.

He’s not wrong.

Marshawn Lynch is nothing if not consistent. We all knew he wasn’t going to answer questions, there are Super Bowl ads ready to go centered on him not answering questions -- so yeah, you guessed it, he didn’t answer any questions.

Then Lynch mocked the media:

With the Super Bowl just five days away, Media Day has been in full swing in Glendale Tuesday. Former Michigan Wolverines quarterback Tom Brady, who managed to carve out a nice little career with the New England Patriots, was asked about his alma mater’s most recent hire.

If that sounds a little unenthusiastic, don’t worry. Michigan fans. Before the hiring was officially announced, Brady gave his overwhelming approval of the move.

This happened, this actually happened! Rob Gronkowski was given a copy of “A Gronking to Remember” at Super Bowl Media Day and he seriously read this passage.

Shock, awe, confusion... how do we all cope with this?!”

So this is a thing that happened:

Confirmation: BILL BELICHICK IS A PUPPET MASTER.

The lead-up to the Super Bowl continues on Tuesday with Media Day, as thousands of media members will descend upon the desert to ask a cavalcade of questions ranging from DeflateGate to actual football news. The New England Patriots are scheduled to begin their session around 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Seattle Seahawks around 2:15 p.m. ET.

Media Day has been a part of the Super Bowl since the beginning. In the early days, it wasn’t quite the spectacle it’s become, more just a way for the press do its job. Reports used to find players and coaches in their hotel rooms. Joe Namath gave a poolside interview in 1969. The nature of the event changed as the popularity of the NFL grew. So did the associated antics. Fred Dryer and Lance Rentzel dressed as reporters and barraged participants with strange questions in 1975.

Lynch, who incurred a $100,000 fine this season for his refusal to speak with the media (apart from defiant repetitions of “yeah” and “thanks for asking”), will surely be the center of attention in Glendale. And, maybe he should be. Lynch is a fascinating character who speaks in a charming Oakland patois and whose catchphrase “just ‘bout that action, boss” was borne about one year to the day. His unforgettable chat with Deion Sanders, live on the NFL Network should, in my mind, go down as one of the best athlete interviews of all time.

In a day where cliches and coach-speak rule the day, Lynch first went “beast mode on FCC regulations” by dropping an s-bomb, then showed genuine emotion, talked about his feelings toward the media (“I ain’t never seen no talking win me nothing; been like that since I was little; was raised like that”), bragged about his team (“they going to have to stop all of us. You feel me? I’m a piece to it, but we got some dogs”), referred to “Beast Mode” in the third person (“Beast Mode love, and appreciate that”), then shut it down and hasn’t spoken much to the media proper in length since.