NFL Seattle Seahawks

NFL Fans Show Ignorance With Marshawn Lynch Story

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Marshawn Lynch Seattle Seahawks

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The Seattle Seahawks met the media more than 24 hours ago for media day. Not many stories came from their session, but headlines were made by Marshawn Lynch, who continually repeated the phrase, “I’m here so I won’t get fined.” Lynch followed that up with another embarrassing performance during Wednesday’s media session repeating the phrase, “You know why I’m here” to any media inquires.

The media has taken this story and run with it for Super Bowl week. The media is starting to grow tired of Deflategate, and after analyzing a football game for 10 days with four days to go, the media needs stories, and Lynch has become one.

What has developed from this story is the total lack of understanding by fans about how much Lynch is embarrassing himself and his team. Fans have taken to social media and to sports radio shows to make a pro-Lynch case how it’s not a big deal and that he should be able to do what he wants. This is a completely ignorant stance by fans that don’t realize how critical the media is to their own enjoyment of the NFL.

Fans can’t get enough of the NFL. It’s not enough to just watch the games on Sunday, they play fantasy football, they spend hours watching NFL-related programming, and even more hours on the internet reading story after story on the NFL. Do any of these fans realize that the hours upon hours of enjoyment they get every week is thanks to the media’s coverage of the NFL?

How difficult would fantasy football be without expert columns and zero injury reports? How much fun would it be to follow an NFL team if there were no quotes from players or coaches, and no insider information from reporters around the league? How dull would watching an NFL game be if the broadcasters and analysts had no interesting insight or information they receive every week from the meetings with coaches and players?

There is a reason why the NFL requires all players and coaches to partake in mandatory media sessions, and it’s so the sport can have the exposure it deserves so it can continue to grow. If Lynch is the only player who doesn’t participate in media sessions, of course it would have minimal impact on the media’s coverage of the NFL. But if the NFL lets Lynch slide, who’s to say that a star quarterback isn’t next? What if a coach decides that he no longer wants to speak with the media?

What if the New England Patriots decided as a team that they would cut off the media all together? Bill Belichick clearly has no interest in addressing the media. If he had a choice, he absolutely would cut off the media and give zero access to his team. If the media gave Belichick the nod to ignore them, his opponents would be next.

The media is critical to the NFL’s success, and the NFL knows this. Lynch’s behavior shows his ignorance, but he’s not nearly as ignorant as the fans who support him.

Bill Zimmerman is an NFL writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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