Injury Stricken Seahawks Reach Out To Marshawn Lynch For Help Against 49ers
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The Seattle Seahawks, who lost two running backs to season-ending injuries in the loss to Arizona, placed a call for help to Oakland Monday and apparently Marshawn Lynch has answered.
ESPN's Adam Schefter took to Twitter Monday, posting that "Marshawn Lynch is scheduled to meet today with Seahawks' HC Pete Carroll and take a physical, per source."
On his local Seattle radio show Carroll said that the team was "going to give him a really good chance to come back and play for us."
Lynch has not played football since his contract expired with the Oakland Raiders at the end of last season. He had returned to Oakland in 2017 after ending an All-Pro career with Seattle, citing the opportunity to play for his hometown Raiders. He signed a two-year deal and rushed for 1,267 yards and 10 touchdowns with Oakland before sustaining a season-ending groin injury after six games in 2018.
The Seahawks believe that Lynch may still be in good enough shape to come to their rescue after starting running back Chris Carson suffered a hip fracture and C.J. Prosise a broken arm in Sunday's loss. Currently, sixth-round rookie Travis Homer is Seattle's only healthy running back heading into Sunday's showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.
Lynch's physical running style made him a favorite among Seahawks fans. The 'Beast Quake' run in the 2010 NFC Wild Card game against the New Orleans Saints still lingers in their minds.
"My relationship with him it was really fun for me for the most part," Carroll said on the radio show. "There were some hard times with it because he challenged the system so much. He challenged so many different aspects — the things with the media and all those kinds of things — he was hard on the regular routine of this job in some regards but he always played and he'd always bring it and I loved the spirit that he'd bring and the toughness he brought.
San Francisco enters the game with a 12-3 record but lost to Seattle on a last-second field goal on Nov. 11. The Seahawks fell to 11-4 after the Cardinal loss, but if they were to defeat the 49ers in the season finale, they would clinch the NFC West title and San Francisco would enter the playoffs as a wild card.
If Seattle loses, they would be a wild card.
Lynch recently has become a part-owner of the Oakland Panthers -- an franchise in the Indoor Football League.