Marshawn Lynch retired from the NFL once already, only to return and play the past two seasons for his hometown Oakland Raiders. This time, however, he apparently means it.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported early Wednesday morning that Lynch, who turned 33 on Monday, “is not planning to play football again” after appearing in only six games last season because of a groin injury.
Lynch spent his first nine seasons with the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks, helping the latter to consecutive Super Bowl appearances and earning five Pro Bowl nods. After an injury-plagued 2015 season, he announced his first retirement in February 2016 by posting a photo of his football cleats hanging from a telephone wire.
After taking off the 2016 season, Lynch returned after the Seahawks traded his rights to the Raiders. He said he wanted to give kids in Oakland the chance to see a homegrown star in action before the team’s move to Las Vegas.
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“With me being from here and continuing to be here, it gives them an opportunity to see someone who actually did it, who is from where they’re from, someone they probably idolized,” Lynch said in June 2017.
In 21 games over two seasons with the Raiders, Lynch rushed for 1,267 yards and 10 touchdowns. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry, which is right at his career average.
Lynch has long been cultivating his post-football career plans, opening a mini-chain of Beast Mode clothing stores and a soul-food restaurant on Oakland’s outskirts. His retirement leaves the Raiders with something of a hole in their backfield, though in March the team did sign free agent Isaiah Crowell, who found moderate success with the Browns and Jets over his five-year NFL career.
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