Marshawn Lynch Says Police Profiling Drove Him Out of Buffalo
Marshawn Lynch revealed on a recent episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast that police profiling was the reason he left the Buffalo Bills.
Lynch seemed almost at a loss for words as he told Sharpe about a series of incidents. “I’d get pulled over going to work, I’d get pulled over coming from work,” he said. “I got pulled over in the stadium leaving the game. I’m still on the property of the Buffalo Bills, and I got pulled over twice. In the facility!"
He added: “It just wasn’t going to work out.”
The footballer-turned-actor described the bizarre sensation of being pulled over and made to stop under his own “Beast Mode” billboard by the very officers who had just watched him play.
“I did not even get to the street,” Lynch marveled. “That’s how serious it was.”
Eventually the player convinced a team manager to take him to the police station to have a word with the chief about his treatment. On the way there, Lynch was pulled over by an officer who had no issue with his driving, but wanted to tell him his son was a huge fan.
“Man, you can’t do that! Bro, you finna work the game,” Lynch said. “Why you pull me over right now, when you coulda just brought your son to the facility?”
Lynch noted this all occurred during a time of heightened awareness in regards to police murdering people of color during seemingly innocuous traffic stops.
“It had already been happening, but now they’re broadcasting it,” he said. “So every time I see them [flashing lights] behind me I try to figure out, shit, is this the one?
“So I said to my agent, ‘You gotta make something happen for sure.’ That was too much,'" he recalled.
Lynch played for the Buffalos for four seasons before he was traded to the Seattle Seahawks, where he spent most of his NFL tenure. Since retiring, he’s gone on to memorable acting roles in Murderville, Westworld, and Bottoms.
@clubshayshaypod “I’d get pulled over going to work, I’d get pulled over coming from work, I got pulled over in the stadium... I’m on the property of the #BuffaloBills and got pulled over twice.” - #MarshawnLynch
♬ original sound - Club Shay Shay