Marshawn Lynch: 'I'm here so I won't get fined'; reportedly risked $500K fine

Marshawn Lynch needed to come to Super Bowl Media Day. He needed to speak for four minutes and 30 seconds. He did exactly that, and nothing more.

Lynch sat down at the podium and announced that he would be saying only "I'm here so I won't get fined," and that was all he said, for less than five minutes, answering 21 questions the exact same way. He may well have eluded a massive fine (see below), but if he did so, it wasn't by much.

Lynch's deliberate one-note media replies have amused many and frustrated some, but only the threat of financial penalties appears to have impacted his actions even the slightest bit. Of course, Lynch has no problem talking when he's getting paid, as in this Skittles ad, but clearly, the NFL would like him to step up outside of advertisements as well.

Lynch apparently had reason to worry. He was risking an enormous fine, according to Ed Werder of ESPN:

Half a million dollars? That seems more than a bit extreme. The fight here isn't between Lynch and the media; to be honest, it's the rare athlete that gives more than a simple cliche about the day's performance, and Lynch is far more fascinating for what he does than what he says. No, this is a battle of control, a battle between Lynch and the NFL that wants to regulate his public image (or, at least, ensure that public image does not make the NFL look foolish). The NFL threatened Lynch with a monstrous fine if he didn't speak, he spoke, and so presumably evaded the fine. So although the NFL got what it wanted, this round goes to Marshawn Lynch.

Regardless, here's video of Lynch's full appearance:

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.

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