Marshawn Lynch announces retirement with cryptic tweet

IT WOULD appear this NFL star has been preparing for the shock move he is about to make for many years.

GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 01: Marshawn Lynch #24 of the Seattle Seahawks walks off the field at half time during Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

MARSHAWN Lynch never was one who liked speaking to the media.

So it makes sense that the famously quiet Seattle Seahawks running back may have just brought a premature end to his glittering career with the tweet below, which was sent out during Super Bowl 50.

✌🏿 pic.twitter.com/wesip4IhOR

— Shawn Lynch (@MoneyLynch) February 8, 2016

ESPN reported earlier in the day that Lynch had told family and friends he was hanging up the cleats.

If this is it for Marshawn Lynch:
• 9,112 career Rush yds
• 74 Rush TD
• Super Bowl XLVIII winner
• No more fines pic.twitter.com/oNAeylRaH0

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 8, 2016

The question is being asked about why he would walk away from the NFL at just 29? One suggested reason is he reportedly still has every dollar he’s been paid in salary.

When reporting that Lynch was considering retirement two years ago, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said then that Lynch was banking his salary and not touching it.

By now, that works out to a gross amount of about $50 million (A$70.5 million).

#Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch has saved his money earned in @NFL. His retirement thought is real. “I could see him walking away,” source says.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 13, 2014

The entrepreneurial Lynch can live off an endorsement income (including Pepsi and Skittles) of about $5 million. On Friday, he opened up a Beast Mode retail store in Oakland, California.

And given how he hardly talks to the media, just think about all the money he’s saving on throat lozenges.

There were times during Lynch’s career when he could not be stopped. As that career now appears to have ended, it emerged his teammates could not stop him either.

His friends made pleas for him to return, trying to churn more mileage out of his 29-year-old legs.

Lynch was limited to 111 carries and 417 yards last season, both career lows.

Marshawn Lynch is reportedly considering retirement at just 29.

“Beast Mode”, especially heralded for powering over defenders in the playoffs, did not play in Seattle’s wild-card win over the Vikings, still recovering from an early-season hamstring injury and abdominal surgery in November.

He returned for the Seahawks’ divisional-round loss to the Panthers, but rushed for just 20 yards on six carries.

Since coming to Seattle from Buffalo in a 2010 trade, Lynch has been one of the top running backs in the league. His 9,112 career rushing yards puts him 36th on the all time list, and since 2011, he’s led the league in rushing touchdowns (51) and has been top three in carries and rushing yards.

Even if those around him persuaded him to delay hanging his cleats up, there was no certainty the franchise would take him back.

Lynch, a five-time Pro Bowler, would have cost $11.5 million against the salary cap next season.

Thomas Rawls, 22, was a revelation filling in for Beast Mode (before Rawls himself went down with an ankle injury), and he’s owed just $530,000 for 2016.

Originally published as Marshawn Lynch announces retirement with cryptic tweet