Lynch on the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot

SonicHawk said:

To be fair, Lynch ran for 0 yards before contact. My man was looking for that smack

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That's what made him one of the best pass blocking backs in the nfl.

Tragically, frequently overlooked when considering his contributions, because he didn't just hit guys coming in, he had pass blocking vision like Shaun had running vision.

As much as I'm gassing lynch up, Shaun had next tier (at worst) vision.

Unfortunately he wasn't willing to rely on any physicality that might outweigh what he was seeing.

It's one thing for lockett to go down across the middle, it's another for your rb to give up running up the guy on plays like 2nd and 3 for a weak loss.

People didn't call him soft for shits and giggles

bigcc said:

If I was arguing from a statistical standpoint he'd be at a disadvantage because of retiring early.

He was an all pro every year (5x1st team, 2x2nd)in the league besides 21 year old rookie season. 7 all pros should get you in day one even if it took 20 years.

Kuechly not getting in would be a travesty, and it's not because he had a bunch of tackles funneled to him lol

The 4th leading tackler of all time is Donnie edwards, and he retired in 2008 not some weird old school shit.

Nobody is claiming dudes like him should get in

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To clarify, my comment was about the "easily first ballot" part. I agree he's a lock for the HoF, and I have no qualms about him getting in on the first ballot; but you're kind of making him out to be in the LB GOAT discussion and I don't think he is. For whatever reason, he was a media darling who always got a lot of hype and talk, WAY more so than Bobby, and I remember at least a couple times being annoyed that he got defensive player of the week in some weeks which Bobby had clearly better stats and performance. Kuechly was kind of like the Aaron Rodgers of linebackers; great, but not as great as portrayed. (He also wasn't an egotistical prick like Rodgers, I'm talking about media perception of his abilities only.) I think this is coloring the opinion of him a bit.

RolandDeschain said:

To clarify, my comment was about the easily "first ballot" part. I agree he's a lock for the HoF, but you're kind of making him out to be in the LB GOAT discussion and I don't think he is. For whatever reason, he was a media darling who always got a lot of hype and talk, WAY more so than Bobby, and I remember at least a couple times being annoyed that he got defensive player of the week in some weeks which Bobby had clearly better stats and performance. Kuechly was kind of like the Aaron Rodgers of linebackers; great, but not as great as portrayed. (He also wasn't an egotistical prick like Rodgers, I'm talking about media perception of his abilities only.) I think this is coloring the opinion of him a bit.

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Players of the week are fan votes to be fair, and we all know how the rest of the country views seattle, if at all

bigcc said:

Players of the week are fan votes to be fair, and we all know how the rest of the country views seattle, if at all

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TL;DR, Kuechly's got a bit more love than he deserves, and Bobby not as much as he deserves.

I'd like to see some Niners fans chime in on this. Y'all got to see more of Beast Mode than you preferred, I'm sure.

RolandDeschain said:

TL;DR, Kuechly's got a bit more love than he deserves, and Bobby not as much as he deserves.

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People view kuechly as better than Bobby, and I would say he was.... For a couple of seasons.

I know exactly what you're talking about because it pissed me off too, as I think the times kuechly was genuinely just playing better than Bobby, leaked into when he wasn't and casual fans just ran with it.

I think luke is still 1st ballot though, I don't think liking Bobby more takes away from that, for me at least

RolandDeschain said:

Alexander had an all-world O-line most of his career, and only tried hard in the red zone. Marshawn Lynch never once had an O-line in Seattle that would qualify as "great", and he gave it his all EVERY. SINGLE. PLAY.

I'm happy to pass you the pipe as long as you realize you're wrong. Marshawn probably would have had a 35-TD season behind our early-mid-2000s O-line.

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Different type of runners, different results. Alexander was a monster in the open field. Lynch was a monster in the trenches with contact. Pick your poison. They were both awesome, but in different ways. There is no wrong here,

bigcc said:

Shaun typically wasn't even touched until like 2.5 yards down field.

Lynch was the most frequently hit rb in the back field several years here.

If you put lynch on those seahawks teams, and Alexander on lynchs seahawks teams, wonder who has more success

I'm going to be very clear here, Alexander was obviously an above average player....... That being said he's the most overrated seahawk in team history, literally.

The guy was afraid of contact ffs, unless a td was in sight.

He would have been an all time great if he always ran like he did in the red zone.... Or gave an effort receiving..... Or pass blocking....

Alexander had the greatest left side in nfl history, a pro bowl center, multiple pro bowl qb, 1st team all pro FB


Putting him above marshawn is a joke, and I'm inclined to think there's some nefarious reasoning behind it, not necessarily here, but seahawks Fandom in general

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Only RB's with bad lines were good. Gotcha.

pittpnthrs said:

Only RB's with bad lines were good. Gotcha.

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Nah you right, results only thing that matters, that's why Emmitt is the GOAT

Rat said:

He'll probably have to wait a little bit. His acceptance speech would a lot of fun.

Alexander deserves in more regardless and he hasn't picked up any traction.

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The HOF is just as much about narratives is it is about stats.

Alexander was a soft runner in a physical era of football. The dude would fold when people so much as looked at him funny. He even would do the QB slide sometimes to avoid contact. Alexander was all about the business decisions. He could run hard, he just did so only when he was at the goal line.

He also had the benefit of playing behind two first ballet HOFers, and a pro-bowler center. As soon as Hutchinson left, he looked very meh even before his injury. Mack Strong was also one of the better fullbacks in the NFL.

Lynch on the other hand is part of the modern NFL mythos. In 2010, the team dubbed the worst playoff team ever knocked out the SuperBowl champs in a spectacular fashion. The beastquake is considered one of the best runs of all time, then you add the fact that the noise from that event measured on the Richter scale and you have a legend in the making.

while Lynch was on the team, it was never Russell’s team. Everyone rallied around Lynch, not the QB. Russ was an accessory piece, a rarity for the modern NFL.

The Seahawks for 4 years terrorized the NFL with Lynch being one of the main linchpin. Then, to add to his legacy we have the interception at the end of regulation against the Pats. The number one piece of rhetoric surrounding the game was Lynch.

In addition to that, Lynch also had a cult of personality surrounding him. He was an enigmatic character that did what he pleased. He didn’t care what people said about him. He had one of the most infamous interviews we’ve seen with his “I’m just here so I don’t get fined” interview. He was a larger than life sort of person.

It would not surprise me one bit if Lynch gets the HOF before Alexander.

Spin Doctor said:

The HOF is just as much about narratives is it is about stats.

Alexander was a soft runner in a physical era of football. The dude would fold when people so much as looked at him funny. He even would do the QB slide sometimes to avoid contact. Alexander was all about the business decisions. He could run hard, he just did so only when he was at the goal line.

He also had the benefit of playing behind two first ballet HOFers, and a pro-bowler center. As soon as Hutchinson left, he looked very meh even before his injury. Mack Strong was also one of the better fullbacks in the NFL.

Lynch on the other hand is part of the modern NFL mythos. In 2010, the team dubbed the worst playoff team ever knocked out the SuperBowl champs in a spectacular fashion. The beastquake is considered one of the best runs of all time, then you add the fact that the noise from that event measured on the Richter scale and you have a legend in the making.

while Lynch was on the team, it was never Russell’s team. Everyone rallied around Lynch, not the QB. Russ was an accessory piece, a rarity for the modern NFL.

The Seahawks for 4 years terrorized the NFL with Lynch being one of the main linchpin. Then, to add to his legacy we have the interception at the end of regulation against the Pats. The number one piece of rhetoric surrounding the game was Lynch.

In addition to that, Lynch also had a cult of personality surrounding him. He was an enigmatic character that did what he pleased. He didn’t care what people said about him. He had one of the most infamous interviews we’ve seen with his “I’m just here so I don’t get fined” interview. He was a larger than life sort of person.

It would not surprise me one bit if Lynch gets the HOF before Alexander.

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I agree with nearly everything except

It would not shock me in the slightest if voters (journalists primarily), keep him out due to spite, based on his opinion of sports media, and I could see people thinking he's "beneath" the hall of fame, considering I've seen "fans" mimic it.

And, Shaun isn't getting in lol, if he does, at this point it'd have to be out of spite for marshawn.

There's a real case to be made for ricky Watters before Shaun even, hell I'd literally take healthy chris Carson first if he gets the same talent around him

bigcc said:

I agree with nearly everything except

It would not shock me in the slightest if voters (journalists primarily), keep him out due to spite, based on his opinion of sports media, and I could see people thinking he's "beneath" the hall of fame, considering I've seen "fans" mimic it.

And, Shaun isn't getting in lol, if he does, at this point it'd have to be out of spite for marshawn.

There's a real case to be made for ricky Watters before Shaun even, hell I'd literally take healthy chris Carson first if he gets the same talent around him

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I don't know about that. Lynch has been an active media presence ever since he retired. Now the media antics of Marshawn Lynch are part of his lore, his mystique. If anything I think that added to his lore. After he retired he's made many appearances on various media outlets. Especially when the drama between Russ and Carroll started. Marshawn Lynch is a media goldmine. You never knew what he was going to do.

Thinking back on it, the Seahawks had some truly unique characters during the LOB years. That team was truly one of the most interesting championship teams I've seen from a personality standpoint. We really were the modern version of the 1985 Bears.

Marshawn makes himself a hof periodically.

Spin Doctor said:

I don't know about that. Lynch has been an active media presence ever since he retired. Now the media antics of Marshawn Lynch are part of his lore, his mystique. If anything I think that added to his lore. After he retired he's made many appearances on various media outlets. Especially when the drama between Russ and Carroll started. Marshawn Lynch is a media goldmine. You never knew what he was going to do.

Thinking back on it, the Seahawks had some truly unique characters during the LOB years. That team was truly one of the most interesting championship teams I've seen from a personality standpoint. We really were the modern version of the 1985 Bears.

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Maybe, I don't know what the distribution of voters is like for media.... In years past I'd have assumed a bunch of old farts that sees a dude talking without proper Grammar, wearing a grill, and being flippant regarding interviews

I loved every bit of it, and maybe you're right and new media is more involved in the voting process.

Most recent one I watched was Shannon Sharpes YouTube interview thing.

He obviously gets a vote (all hof do), but I don't know what kind of privileges guys like that are given vs print media bitter old men who might have felt slighted.

pittpnthrs said:

Different type of runners, different results. Alexander was a monster in the open field. Lynch was a monster in the trenches with contact.

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Lynch was a monster in the open field, too. Just sayin'.

Rat said:

He'll probably have to wait a little bit. His acceptance speech would a lot of fun.

Alexander deserves in more regardless and he hasn't picked up any traction.

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“I’m just here so I won’t get fined”

If he opened with that…he’d bring the house down.

SonicHawk said:

To be fair, Lynch ran for 0 yards before contact. My man was looking for that smack

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Not smack, Hennessy!

If Marshawn isn't first ballot, there will be no real reason to take the HOF seriously ever again.

I won't get too deep into the Lynch vs. Alexander stuff, suffice to say the idea that Shaun was 'weak' in power situations or didn't get tough yards is a self-reinforcing myth that doesn't seem to be based on reality. Was his line great? Yes. Lynch's line wasn't trash, though. And on 3rd/4th and short during their respective primes, Alexander outperformed his backup RBs to a greater degree than Lynch outperformed his.

That said, it's hard to say who 'deserves' a HOF nod more. Alexander has the MVP, Lynch has the ring. (And Lynch was the key part of our offense when we got that ring.) As a Seahawks homer, I say both deserve it, but I might be biased.

bigcc said:

Vinatieri maybe 30 years down the road, 1st ballot would be a joke, but he should at some point in a SUPER weak year

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Vinatieri is the only first ballot guy I see up there. I get it, he's a kicker, but come on now.

bigcc said:

Shaun typically wasn't even touched until like 2.5 yards down field.

Lynch was the most frequently hit rb in the back field several years here.

If you put lynch on those seahawks teams, and Alexander on lynchs seahawks teams, wonder who has more success

I'm going to be very clear here, Alexander was obviously an above average player....... That being said he's the most overrated seahawk in team history, literally.

The guy was afraid of contact ffs, unless a td was in sight.

He would have been an all time great if he always ran like he did in the red zone.... Or gave an effort receiving..... Or pass blocking....

Alexander had the greatest left side in nfl history, a pro bowl center, multiple pro bowl qb, 1st team all pro FB


Putting him above marshawn is a joke, and I'm inclined to think there's some nefarious reasoning behind it, not necessarily here, but seahawks Fandom in general

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the numbers don’t tell me the same story. According to pro football reference Lynch posted a career 3.9 ybc per att unfortunately they don’t have the numbers for Shaun so I will just use your guess of 2.5 ybc

As for Shaun’s toughness he had 4 seasons with over 300 carries and 2 of those over 350(370*), Lynch had 2 (315*).

A Hawks Shaun had 509 first downs rushing compared to Lynch’s 335. Career (509-535) games played(123-149)


As for pass catching Shaun was a legit weapon for several seasons.
He had more targets and receptions than Lynch as a Hawk.
With 2002 being Shaun's best year 59 receptions on 78 targets for 460 yards.

As Seahawks they had very comparable numbers.



So you can hate all you want or blame “nefarious” reasons but Shaun was and is an All Time Hawks and NFL player