Colin Dunlap: Larry Foote & Marshawn Lynch Just A Difference Of Opinion
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
What started out as Marshawn Lynch against Roger Goodell has now drifted into Larry Foote against Marshawn Lynch.
And, really, at the heart of it, it is all just a difference of opinion --- there's no right or wrong. But everyone wants to pick a winner or loser, when in reality, perhaps it is just two guys going about their business in a different manner.
You see, Lynch -- the dynamic Seahawks running back -- is far from a media darling. We all know that; not breaking any news here.
But he never signed up to be one and, remember, he did fulfill his media obligation to the NFL over Super Bowl week.
Lynch got into this whole football racket because he signed up to run the football (when his coach actually gives it to him) and has done it masterfully.
But that isn't enough for many; Foote included.
Earlier this week on 93.7 The Fan's 'Cook and Poni Show,' Foote took time to go in on Lynch pretty hard. It was Foote's right, yet it doesn't mean he was right --- instead just his opinion.
"You hear in the media he always mentions his foundation and what he likes to do for the city of Oakland," Foote said. "I'm from the same type of urban environment he's from. The biggest message he's giving these kids, and he might not want to admit it, is 'The hell with authority. I don't, fine me. I'm gonna grab my crotch. I'm gonna do it my way.'"
Foote, who plays for the Arizona Cardinals and is a former Steeler, didn't stop there.
"In the real world, it doesn't work that way," Foote continued. "How can you keep a job? I mean, you got these inner-city kids. They don't listen to teachers. They don't listen to police officers, principals. And these guys can't even keep a job because they say, 'F authority.' ... He needs to really check himself and understand you're hurting these kids, not helping them. You can give them PlayStations and free camps and T-shirts and cleats, but the biggest message you're giving these guys is 'To hell with authority. Do it your way.' In the real world, you're hurting these kids because it doesn't work that way."
Tremendously well put. Would you expect anything less from Larry Foote? The guy is always thoughtful and calculated with his words and a bastion of what he feels is 100 percent truth.
But, again, all this is just a matter of Foote's opinion.
And one I disagree with.
When did it become incumbent upon Marshawn Lynch to raise the youth of America?
When did it become the responsibility of Marshawn Lynch to be responsible for how kids -- however impressionable -- turn out years from now?
Why the hell is it Marshawn Lynch's job to be a role model to any kid, however rich, poor, black or white or whether the kid is growing up in the most downtrodden ghetto or the biggest mansion in Fox Chapel or Sewickley?
Marshawn Lynch, like Larry Foote, is a football player --- no more, no less; people should view them as such.
I love Larry Foote. He's a role model -- a big-time one. He's one of the good guys in the game and, to be frank, someone I want my kids to look up to because of the man he is. In a game trying oh-so hard to find the good guys, Larry exemplifies all there is good about the league. But to me, he's a great guy who just happens to play football for his job, not a football player with an obligation to guide the youth of our country.
That said, just because Larry Foote elects to be a role model, that doesn't mean Marshawn Lynch is wrong because he doesn't want to be one.
Or because Larry Foote doesn't think Marshawn Lynch is being one.