By Chris Colston, USA TODAY
University of California running back Marshawn Lynch looks like many of today's stylish athletes: sculpted body, braids, fashionable dental grille. But to truly understand him, according to teammate Justin Forsett, you must see him from behind, shirtless. There, across his shoulders, the tattooed words stretch from shoulder blade to shoulder blade: "Mama's Boy." "Oh, he's definitely a mama's boy," Forsett says. "They're like friends, as well as being mother and son." Says Lynch: "That's what I am. I'm a mama's boy at heart. I ain't afraid to show it." When Lynch's mother, Delisa, first saw the ink, she had mixed emotions. "Oh, baby, I bet that hurt," she said. "But … it's so beautiful!"
Any NFL team drafting Lynch will get a package deal: son and mother. Wherever Marshawn goes — the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers are two possible destinations — he's taking Delisa with him. And he's buying her a house. "It will be the first thing I do," he says. Marshawn's relationship with Delisa is not only well-known to teammates but to the community where he grew up. While Marshawn was waiting to attend his sister's high school graduation in North Oakland, a gunman fired on his car, but the bullets missed him. About 20 minutes later, Delisa got a phone call saying the shooting was a mistake; the bullets weren't meant for her son, and she received an apology.
"I don't think the call came from the actual people involved but somebody who knew them," Delisa says. "They wanted me to know the shooting was not intended for Marshawn." Growing up in North Oakland, Lynch relied on his mother for shelter, food, support and love. "My mom raised me by herself with no help, basically," he says. "She worked three jobs for me, and it's not just what she did for me but (for) my older brother and my two younger siblings. "She made it to each and every one of our games. That was kind of hard, because I'm playing, my little brother had a game and, probably later that night, my sister might have a basketball game. And she would still manage to go and be able to feed us and clothe us and pay the bills. She's just my Superwoman."
Delisa admits raising Marshawn and his siblings, David, 27, Marreesha, 18, and Davonte (nicknamed "Boo Boo"), 13, was never easy. She still works full time as a maintenance administrator for AT&T and says the company was very understanding of her situation. She also relied on the Wallace W. Knox branch of the Oakland Boys and Girls Club for support. "That was so important," she says, "because I knew where they were while I was at work." She hopes to continue working, even as she and Boo Boo — a promising player himself — help Marshawn acclimate to his new quarters — wherever they might be. "AT&T has offices all over the country," she says. "I really don't want to quit. I might take a leave of absence for six months. It depends on what Marshawn wants me to do." Lynch is expected to be the second back taken in the draft, behind Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson.
"He's as talented as any offensive player I've been around," says Cal coach Jeff Tedford, who has coached many NFL first-rounders, including Aaron Rodgers, Trent Dilfer, David Carr, Akili Smith, Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller. "He's so natural in doing it all. He's fast, strong, has great balance; he can catch; and he has a great feel for the game in all phases. He's so natural and explosive as an athlete." Lynch closed out his high school career as Oakland Tech's first three-time all-league, first-team selection. His senior year, the San Francisco Chronicle named him its East Bay player of the year. Rated among the country's elite prospects, he earned a scholarship to Cal, where he became the school's No. 2 all-time rusher. He battled sprained ankles and a sore back last season as a junior — yet he led the Pacific-10 in rushing (104.3 yards a game) and all-purpose yards (137.3) and scored 15 touchdowns, earning conference offensive player of the year honors.
Despite those impressive numbers, perhaps Lynch's most memorable play of 2006 occurred when he commandeered a golf cart after an overtime win against Washington. Before the game, Huskies players did calisthenics on the Cal midfield logo, incurring Lynch's wrath. "He was so into that game," Tedford says. "So when he saw the keys in the golf cart, he thought he'd go pick up (linebacker) Desmond Bishop, who had sealed the win with an interception. When Lynch couldn't find Desmond, he just celebrated with the fans. "That's Marshawn — fun-loving. He was a very popular guy on our team." The golf-cart stunt surprised those who knew Lynch, because he abhors calling attention to himself. Before the season, when the Cal sports information department planned to promote Lynch on a computer mousepad, he balked.
"I don't like it," he said. "Why not?" assistant media relations director John Sudsbury asked. After some back-and-forth, he pulled it out of Lynch: He didn't want the school to distribute anything featuring his image. But Sudsbury gave it one more shot. "What can we do instead?" he asked. "If you put my teammates on it," Lynch said, "that might be OK." There wasn't enough room on the mousepad for everybody, so Sudsbury asked, "How about the three tailbacks?"
Lynch said it was fine — then immediately went to find teammates Forsett and Marcus O'Keith for their approval. The Golden Bears ended up producing a mousepad called "Tailback Triple Threat." "He doesn't want to be in the limelight," Forsett says. "Thinking of us like that made us feel special. It showed he really cared about us. But that's the way he is. He's a humble guy and makes you feel like you're important, even if you're a fifth-stringer. He's somebody you can say is your true brother." Those close to Lynch vouch for his character, which came into question in January. A woman claiming to be Lynch's ex-girlfriend accused him of domestic and sexual assault. But charges were never filed, and prosecutors cited a lack of evidence and inconsistencies in the accuser's allegations. "I was innocent," Lynch says, "and we got that taken care of."
Tedford thinks the incident was a learning situation for Lynch. "As you grow in the public eye, you just never know what people will say or do or what their motives are," he says. "It boggles my mind, people who are motivated to say things that aren't true." Delisa characterizes her son as "a gentle giant." But she does have one complaint: his preference for that cosmetic dental apparatus. "I think people get the wrong impression," she says. "They see that and automatically think 'thug.' "You know how kids go through their little fads. But his real teeth are beautiful! They took a picture of him from the (NFL scouting) combine without his grille, and I put that on my phone as a screen saver. I told him, 'Marshawn, look at this great picture of you without that grille in your mouth!' "I guarantee you, Boo Boo will not be allowed to wear one of those."
