When Colin Kaepernick sat out the national anthem last year, he spoke repeatedly about his reasons for doing so. Marshawn Lynch is taking a different approach.
Lynch, the Raiders running back who sat out the anthem last week before his first game back from a one-year retirement, addressed reporters today but said nothing about his reasons for sitting during the anthem.
The closest Lynch came to answering an anthem question was to say something about a mouse scaring an elephant, which may be some kind of metaphor or may just be a creative way not to answer. The second time Lynch was asked about the anthem, he responded as if he had been asked about his responsibilities on a certain play in the Raiders’ offense.
Lynch rarely talks to the media and rarely gives direct answers when he does talk to the media, so it’s not surprising that he’s not explaining himself. During his time in Seattle, Lynch sometimes stood and sometimes sat during the anthem, and he’s never given any explanation. It may simply be that he marches to the beat of his own drum, and will continue to do so.