Arrogant Marshawn Lynch Avoids the White House

Screw that Marshawn Lynch guy. What a stonefaced, arrogant jerk.

Yesterday, the 2013 Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks visited Washington DC to meet with President Barack Obama and celebrate their recent victory. It was a great event, and a great tradition, and everyone in attendance was in great spirits. Every single New England Patriots fan in the world was rooting hard for the Seahawks on Super Bowl Sunday, and the team certainly didn't disappoint. It was great to see everyone up there getting some well-deserved credit for one of the most dominant seasons in recent memory.

However, not every member of the team was in attendance. Missing from the group was Marshawn Lynch, who said that "he didn't want to go" when asked why he didn't make the trip to meet the President. The reason actually came from his mother, as Lynch was -as usual - nowhere to be found and completely inaccessible to the media. It should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following Lynch, or the Seahawks, over the past few years; he's really not into these kinds of things. He'll never seek out the spotlight, will never volunteer a quote, and will almost always be found hiding in the corner with his hood pulled deep over his face during all media days. So that he opted out of a White House visit is fairly consistent with the way he prefers to handle his business.

A word of warning, Marshawn - get ready for some serious backlash.

There's nothing the media hates more  than someone who won't talk to them. If you detest giving interviews, avoid the spotlight at all costs, and prefer to let your actions on the field do the talking, get ready for a lot of vitriol and criticism coming your way. Before you know it, you'll be making lists of the most hated people in sports and radio hosts will start dedicating entire programming blocks to lambasting your arrogant, stony approach. Every move you make will be overly scrutinized, local reporters will make it their life's work to write articles criticizing you, and most of the world will wish nothing more than to see you fail. Because while you may be great at what you do and have more than earned the clout to handle things however the hell you want to, your refusal to appear for media interviews will undoubtedly paint you as standoffish, surly, grumpy, and obnoxious.

Or maybe not. Maybe your approach to the media will draw praise from the president himself. Maybe your decision to only show up for appearances so you won't get fined will elicit responses like "we love this guy" from members of the NFL.com reporting staff. Maybe fans everywhere will rally around you to say things along the lines of "hell yeah! Screw the media, do your talking on the field!" and support you in every way that they can. I mean, who knows... you're really the first NFL personality who is both successful and openly shuns any and all media appearances, so you're kind of breaking new ground here. I'll be curious to see the responses.

I just hope that, in the future, if someone else decides to follow in Lynch's footprints and only talk to reporters and get facetime in front of the camera when he absolutely has to, there will be some consistency. After all, praising one guy for avoiding the media at all costs and crucifying another guy for doing the exact same thing would look pretty damn foolish all around. I mean I guess we could split hairs and talk semantics if, say, a coach happened to be the one who didn't like to be interviewed, but that would be a pretty big reach.

But mainly, though, congrats to the Seahawks, and enjoy your time with the president. Patriots Nation thanks you for making Peyton Manning in the playoffs look like...well, Peyton Manning in the playoffs.