Cal RB Lynch shying away from spotlight

By Bob Condotta

Seattle Times staff reporter

Consider Marshawn Lynch his own worst enemy. The sophomore running back for the Cal Bears doesn't like attention, doesn't care about publicity, and would rather not talk about himself. In fact, he seems to barely understand why there's a fuss about him. He claims to not really be a fan of football, and says he would rather watch the Cartoon Network than ESPN.  But if he keeps playing as he has in his one year and one game at California, he had better get used to the spotlight.

Lynch gained 628 yards in spot relief of J.J. Arrington a year ago. He averaged an amazing 8.8 yards per carry that isn't a Pac-10 record only because Lynch didn't have the required 100 attempts. He then rushed for a career-high 147 yards on 24 carries Saturday against Sacramento State in his first game as Cal's starter at tailback.  "I just play football — that's it," Lynch said. "I'm not really into [following football]. That never was my thing. A lot of my teammates will be like, 'Oh, you see this game last night?' I'll be, like, kind of lost."

And he's more than just a runner, as Huskies fans found out in November when he accounted for 121 yards rushing, 29 yards receiving, 51 yards on two kickoff returns, 14 yards on a halfback pass, and scored three TDs in Cal's 42-12 victory in Seattle. UW coach Tyrone Willingham has yet to see Lynch in person, but said he knows some consider him the best back in the Pac-10. "And that is saying a mouthful when you have a Reggie Bush in your conference," Willingham said. But Lynch says such compliments, "Don't really mean nothing to me. I still got to go out there and play." And at simply playing the game, he's an unquestioned prodigy.

"He's a load, man," said UW linebacker Scott White. "He's not the biggest guy, but he runs really hard and he's tough to tackle. He has great balance and really great lower-body strength. You're not going to get him down just by pulling on him. I thought ... he was definitely harder to tackle than J.J. Arrington was." The 5-foot-11 Lynch may be bigger now than White remembers, having added 15 pounds during the offseason to put him at 215. And the Huskies will see more of him, especially now that the Bears are forced to start backup quarterback Joe Ayoob for injured starter Nate Longshore.

Lynch is a native of Oakland and attended Oakland Tech High School. He chose Cal over Oregon in part because it was close to home. He also has two cousins on the team, one being receiver Robert Jordan, who caught the pass Lynch threw against UW a year ago. Lynch said he never thinks about having to live up to the high standards set by Arrington — his 2,018 yards last season were third-most in Pac-10 history, behind Marcus Allen and Charles White — unless someone asks him about it.  But Cal coach Jeff Tedford said he thought Lynch was more "amped up" than usual last week, presumably because he was starting for the first time, one reason there were a few botched handoffs in the game. "He's just got to settle down a little bit," Tedford said.

But Lynch, who said he's studying to become a parole officer, said it wasn't pressure. "Nope," he said. "It was just the first game of the year and I was happy to be out there." He has been happily playing since he was 12, coaxed to the game by his grandfather and an uncle, Lorenzo Lynch, who was a defensive back in the NFL for 11 years, ending his career with the Raiders.  Marshawn Lynch said he was originally an offensive lineman for that 12-year-old team. One day, the quarterback got hurt and the running back took over. Lynch volunteered to fill in at running back.  "I was like, 'Yeah, I can run.' But they didn't really believe me at first," he said. "They had a lot of guys left over from the team the year before, and they weren't big on letting a guy they didn't know get a shot. But we had a little race and I won, so they tried me at running back." The first time he got the ball, he said, "We ran a little misdirection counter and the line blocked well and I guess I scored."  And a reluctant star was born.