Marshawn Lynch Lends Credence To Theory That Seahawks Didn't Want Him To Be Super Bowl MVP
BOSTON (CBS) -- Pete Carroll has never been one to distance himself from conspiracy theories, and his players are apparently following suit.
In case you didn't catch this one, there are folks who believe that Pete Carroll and/or Darrell Bevell opted to call a passing play from the 1-yard line in the final minute of Super Bowl XLIX so that Russell Wilson would be named Super Bowl MVP instead of Marshawn Lynch. Given Lynch's not-so-friendly outward demeanor, his penchant for grabbing his crotch while crossing goal lines and his week-long stand-off with the media in Arizona, there's enough reason for some people to believe this to be true.
While many of them have been disregarded as conspiracy theorists, they apparently caught the ear -- and the imagination -- of Marshawn Lynch himself.
Lynch was in Turkey this past week as part of a program to help expand the game, and he was asked if he expected to be handed the ball on the fateful play that ended with Malcolm Butler's interception.
"To be honest with you, I would be a liar if I didn't tell you that I was expecting the ball. Yes, I was expecting the ball," Lynch told NTV Spor. "I think it was more of a -- how do I say this? -- umm ... when you look at me, and you let me run that ball in, I'm the face of the nation. You know, the MVP of the Super Bowl, that's pretty much the face of the nation at that point in time. I don't know what went into that call, and maybe it was a good thing that I didn't get the ball. But I mean, you know, it cost us a Super Bowl.
"I mean, I have full confidence in my teammates to execute that play, because we've done it so many times. But would I love to have that ball there? Yeah, I would have. I would have. But, hey, the game is over, I'm in Turkey, what's happening?"
That ought to make for some interesting fodder when the Seahawks and Lynch try to negotiate a contract this spring, don't you think?
The theory would actually hold some weight if the Seahawks hadn't just given the ball to Lynch on the play before the interception. If it hadn't been for Dont'a Hightower getting just enough of Lynch to get him to go down a yard shy of the goal line, Lynch would have finished the game with 103 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score in the final minute. He almost assuredly would have been named MVP, and Carroll, Bevell and the rest of the Seattle coaching staff had no control on Lynch getting tackled on first-and-goal from the 5-yard line.
Still, the fact that Lynch seems to buy into the theory at least a little bit does give it some legs. And it helps explain what that smile on the sidelines was all about after his team had just lost the Super Bowl in dramatic fashion.
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