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Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch spent the off season teaching women in Turkey to play American football
Where did the Seattle Seahawks' mysterious, media-shy star running back, Marshawn Lynch, retreat to after being denied the ball on the goal line of February's Super Bowl — a play that ultimately handed a win to the New England Patriots?
Not a spa, a private island, or a tropical resort. In fact, you probably didn't see this one coming: Lynch was in Turkey with an organization called American Football Without Barriers, teaching women the mechanics of the sport.
The participation of Lynch and several other NFL players in the Turkish football camp doubled the sign-ups for the camp's women's football team, The Wall Street Journal reports. That itself is a noteworthy feat in a nation where women's participation in a sport like American football "is very rare," in the words of one of the coaches, Deniz Somersan.
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"There was no gender barrier. The women really liked football there and they were tough," New Orleans fullback Erik Lorig told The Wall Street Journal of his experience at the camp. "I learned a lot about the Turkish culture and they are a tough people and the women especially pride themselves on it."
Lynch himself was "the stuff of legend" at the camp:
When one boy was distraught and nearly in tears about his performance on the field, Lynch took him off to the side for 20 minutes. Later, the boy ended up with a "Beast Mode" sweatshirt — Lynch's nickname — and returned to field, playing at full-speed. When an attendee asked the boy's father what Lynch told him, the father relayed that Lynch had given a 20-minute pep talk on how there are no losers on the practice field and that it is about learning lessons. [The Wall Street Journal]
When asked by The Wall Street Journal to comment on the experience, Lynch, to nobody's surprise, declined.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
