The great Walter Cronkite once defined two subsections of journalism in the following way...
Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.
Too often, members of the sports journalism world fail to understand the difference between the two. Objective journalism is an aspect of free speech—just as opinion journalism can help break down worn out dogmas and societal norms. Cronkite himself found a way to create a happy medium between the two.
In the sports journalism world, there are very few that are able to conduct themselves in this manner. Instead, some of those who millions rely on for news leave the readers with a skewed opinion of the subjects they write about.
This has come to the forefront with the media's coverage of Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, who for all intents and purposes continues to be mischaracterized as some sort of street thug or villain because he doesn't play into a NFL-led idea that football players must act the part given to them by suits in New York City.
"Looking forward to the Marshawn-to-English translation from this morning's press conference." New York Post columnist Bart Hubbuch wrote about Seattle's running back during his Super Bowl press conference on Thursday.
Refusing to even play the race card here, I can easily conclude that the veteran journalist's perception of Lynch is one of ignorance defined by a cultural disconnect. It's the central theme of sports journalism today. A disconnect—created by the media itself—to paint a picture it wants others to see.
Playing into Hubbuch's comments, Ed Sherman of the National Sports Journalism Center actually recommended that we boycott Skittles—a company Lynch sponsors and is synonymous with his brand.
Sports journalists unite: It’s time to boycott Skittles. Don’t let your kids eat them anymore. Forget about handing out those small packets for Halloween.Skittles should be considered poison to any sports journalist who asks for respect in dealing with athletes.
Sherman's stance was that because Skittles helped Lynch "play into" his role as media fodder, the company itself should be negatively impacted. As fellow Forbes writer Maury Brown points out, this is an Archie Bunker-like stance at a time in this nation when both Archie and those with his black-and-white stance on society have long been cast aside by our progression as a people.
Lynch doesn't like to talk to the media. He doesn't take us seriously. And he's working under a contract that requires him to spend time in a public realm with said media.
But this doesn't create a rigid dichotomy between the media and Lynch himself. Instead, it creates a division between a football player that doesn't take himself (or the media) too seriously, and some in the media that takes themselves way too seriously.
This was evident during Lynch's press conference on Thursday—the final one before his Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.
What is Lynch going to say in this environment that makes it reasonable for hundreds of journalists to swarm to his table during Super Bowl week? If we've learned one thing from the enigmatic running back over the years, he's on to our game. He understands full well that one sound bite or one word is what's going to define the entire media session.
Then you have the entire disconnect between those set in their ways and Lynch, who is not a normal individual by any stretch of the imagination. This has led some, the aforementioned New York Post columnist included, to spat off about some sort of different language Lynch is speaking. It's these same people that have an issue with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sporting tattoos or wearing his hat backwards. It's these same people who indicated that Richard Sherman—a Stanford grad who pulled himself out of the ghetto of Compton—is some sort of a thug.
Because yellow journalism's goal is to sensationalize for impact, those involved in it aren't interested in the full truth. Instead, they're mostly interested rumor-mongering and innuendo.
Marshawn Lynch attended the University of California, Berkeley. And by all accounts, he's an extremely intelligent individual. Mistaking Lynch's brashness with the media with a lack of intelligence is a story that defies logic.
Former NFL player Ryan Riddle, who is an ex-teammate of Lynch's at CAL wrote an in-depth piece on the ultra-enigmatic running back. Coincidentally enough, I view Riddle as a close friend (my former radio co-host) and someone whose words I value highly. Here's what he had to write about Seattle's leading rusher in that Bleacher Report piece.
For those who look at him and see only a thug, I ask you to withhold judgment until you sit down and talk with him. Hear from those who have spent significant time with him. A thug is a violent criminal.
His hardened outer shell is little more than a coping mechanism created out of necessity from growing up in a rough area of Oakland. Outside of his running style, there are few people I’ve encountered with a more peaceful and gentle nature than Beast Mode himself.
And that's really where this story gets going. A story that shock-jock journalists refuse to embrace or even educate themselves on.
Without getting into the psychology of it, let's assume for a second here that Lynch has some sort of a condition—potentially an anxiety disorder that shows up in droves when he speaks to the media.
For that, let's refer to a statement Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman made in a recent post on Peter Kings's Monday Morning Quarterback.
Under Goodell the league continues to put players like Marshawn Lynch in a position to be mocked by the media, which seems to get a kick out of seeing people struggle on camera. As teammates we’re angry because we know what certain people do well and we know what they struggle with. Marshawn’s talking to the press is the equivalent of putting a reporter on a football field and telling him to tackle Adrian Peterson.
See. It's not the role of the media to make assumptions based off opinion. What Sherman wrote there may not be an admission that Lynch has some sort of social anxiety disorder. But it's not too difficult to read between the lines.
At the very least, we shouldn't sit back and assume that we know an individual based on how he acts in a public realm, especially an individual that the aforementioned Ryan Riddle indicated has a "hardened outer shell."
As it relates to Lynch the man, there is very little question about just how much he does outside of the football world and within the community that he refused to let define him during his adolescent years.
Lynch at one of his Fam 1st charity events with Joe Montana.
Lynch, pictured above with Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana at one of his foundation's events, is among the most charity-driven players in the NFL.
Working with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Josh Johnson, Lynch created the Fam 1st Family Foundation. Here's the foundation's mission statement.
Fam 1st Family Foundation is dedicated to uplifting and empowering youth in the Bay Area and throughout the United States. The foundation’s mission is one of empowerment and education, aiming to build self-esteem and academic learning skills in underprivileged youth.
These are the stories we don't hear in the fast-paced, get a quick one-liner in, social media-driven world that exists today. Lynch's back story can fill up thousands of words on a parchment. And instead of getting into that, let's just say that the city of Oakland, the broader Bay Area and underprivileged youth around the world are near and dear to Lynch's heart.
The idea here is that while some in the media want to force-feed the masses stories about Lynch, there is another story that needs to be told here. A story that helps define what makes Lynch tick. A story that is much deeper than anyone outside of his inner-circle can comprehend.
So instead of pushing through the daily articles focusing on the public perception of one Marshawn Lynch, let's all take a step back and realize he—like every living human—isn't defined by that.
