Marshawn Lynch Marshawn Terrell Lynch ( born April 22 , 1986 ) is an American football running back for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League ( NFL ) . Lynch played college football for the University of California , where he became the school ' s second all - time career rusher . He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft . In his rookie year , Lynch became the Bills ' first 1 , 000 - yard rookie rusher since Greg Bell in 1984 . He finished the season with 1 , 115 total rushing yards and seven touchdowns . Early years . Lynch attended Oakland Technical High School . In his 2003 season , Lynch amassed 1 , 722 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in only eight regular season games , and an additional 375 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in two postseason games . He was voted a PrepStar and SuperPrep All - American and was also voted as the San Francisco East Bay Player of the Year . Lynch experimented with other positions in high school . He played defensive back and accumulated 20 interceptions his senior year . His coaches put him at defensive end for one game , and he forced three fumbles . Lynch also played some quarterback , wide receiver , and linebacker in high school . Before high school , Lynch had originally played as an offensive guard . " Rivals . com " had him ranked # 1 in the nation as a defensive back , but he decided to stick to his passion at running back . Lynch ended his high school career as the second - ranked running back in the nation in 2004 behind Adrian Peterson by Rivals . com . In addition to being a star football player , Lynch was also an excellent track sprinter and played on Oakland Tech ' s basketball team alongside former Cal star Leon Powe . Lynch would take his team to the state semi finals . College career . Lynch attended the University of California , Berkeley , and played for the California Golden Bears football team . He majored in social welfare . As a true freshman in 2004 , Lynch was the primary backup to senior J . J . Arrington . Lynch carried the ball 71 times for 628 yards with 8 rushing touchdowns and an additional 147 yards on 19 receptions and 2 receiving touchdowns . In 2005 , Arrington graduated and Lynch became the starting running back . Even though he missed two games due to a hand and finger injury , he still amassed 1 , 246 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns on 196 carries and an additional 125 yards on 15 receptions . In the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl , Lynch ran for 194 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries and was named MVP . Lynch wore jersey No . 24 his freshman year but switched to No . 10 , his high school number . This switch placed him in sequence with his cousins Virdell Larkins ( No . 9 ) and Robert Jordan ( No . 11 ) , also teammates at Cal . In the 2006 preseason , Lynch earned a spot on the watchlist for the Maxwell Award , was named 8th best player in the nation by " Sports Illustrated " and earned several preseason All - American accolades . On July 22 , 2006 , the Cal football program officially launched the campaign for Lynch to win the 2006 Heisman Trophy with the opening of the website Marshawn10 . com , featuring Lynch ' s highlights from the 2004 , 2005 , and 2006 seasons . Lynch was named to the 2006 All Pac - 10 team First Team . Lynch not only earned various awards , he also scored the game - winning overtime touchdown against Washington . He later called the run his favorite career highlight , after which Lynch spontaneously drove around the football field in an injury cart , pretending to ghost ride . Lynch was also named the Pac - 10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2006 and an AFCA ( Coaches ' ) All - America in 2006 . In his final game for California , Lynch ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns against Texas A & M in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl on December 28 , 2006 . He shared the Co - Offensive Player of the Game award with teammate , quarterback Nate Longshore . Lynch had a highly successful career at Cal and holds the school record for most 100 - yard rushing games at 17 . On January 2 , 2007 , Lynch announced he would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft . Professional career . 2007 NFL Draft . On April 28 , 2007 , Lynch was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft . He agreed with the Bills to a six - year , $ 18 . 935 million contract . The deal included a $ 3 million signing bonus and contained $ 10 . 285 million in total guarantees . Buffalo Bills . 2007 season . Lynch entered the 2007 season as the starter at running back for the Buffalo Bills . In his first game of the regular season on September 9 , he gained 90 yards on 19 carries and scored his first touchdown in a 15 – 14 loss to the Denver Broncos . His breakout game came on November 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals . Lynch ' s success on the ground was instrumental in keeping the touted Cincinnati offense on the sidelines , as he rushed 29 times for 153 yards , including a 56 - yard touchdown run . Lynch also completed a touchdown pass to tight end Robert Royal , the first touchdown pass completed by a Bills non - quarterback since 1981 . Lynch injured his ankle the following week against the Miami Dolphins and missed the next three games . He returned to play on December 9 for the second game of the Bills ' season against the Dolphins , rushing for 107 yards and making his first career fumble . The game marked the first time that the Bills ' offense produced two 100 - yard rushers since 1996 , as Fred Jackson also rushed for 115 yards . Lynch went over the 1 , 000 - yard rushing mark on December 23 against the New York Giants , scoring a touchdown in the 38 – 21 loss which resulted in the Giants clinching a playoff berth . This made him the fourth Bills rookie to break the 1 , 000 - yard mark , and the first since Greg Bell in 1984 . He finished a successful rookie season with 1 , 115 total rushing yards and seven touchdowns . Lynch was expected to be more involved in Buffalo ' s passing game in 2008 , his second season as a pro . The Bills ' new offensive coordinator Turk Schonert had stated a number of times that he anticipated Lynch " being in on third down a lot more " this season , citing Lynch ' s inexperience as a reason he was not very involved in 2007 . 2008 season . Lynch was held to a 2008 low of 16 yards rushing in a matchup against the New York Jets on November 2 . He did not break 100 yards rushing in a game until November 17 on a " Monday Night Football " matchup against the Cleveland Browns , when he rushed for 119 . The game also marked his first receiving touchdown . Two weeks later Lynch posted a season high 134 rushing yards against the San Francisco 49ers on November 30 . Lynch went over the 1 , 000 - yard mark for the season on December 14 in a rematch against the Jets when he rushed for 127 yards . He was able to stay healthy until injuring his shoulder in the second half of a Bills victory on December 21 against the Denver Broncos , during which he rushed for his eighth touchdown of the season . The injury kept him out of the Bills ' final game of the season against the New England Patriots . Lynch finished the 2008 season with 1 , 036 yards rushing and eight rushing touchdowns . He posted 300 receiving yards on 47 receptions , including a receiving touchdown , compared to 184 yards on 18 receptions for the 2007 season . Lynch was selected to his first Pro Bowl , replacing an injured Chris Johnson . This made him the first Bills running back to head to the Pro Bowl since Travis Henry in 2002 . Lynch was initially a first alternate . 2009 season . Following his guilty plea on misdemeanor weapons charges during the 2009 offseason , Lynch met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for a disciplinary hearing . On April 9 , the NFL announced that Lynch would be suspended for the Bills ' first three games for violations of the NFL ' s personal conduct policy . Lynch appealed the league ' s suspension on May 14 in an attempt to have it reduced or nullified , only to have it upheld by Goodell later on August 3 . When interviewed on the topic , Lynch has said that he was not surprised when the suspension was upheld , and that he loves playing too much and will try to keep himself out of situations in which there is a risk of being suspended . Lynch played his first game of the 2009 season against the Miami Dolphins and played the rest of the season . Beginning November 29 , he was supplanted as the Bills ' starting running back by Fred Jackson , who had the first 1 , 000 - yard rushing season of his career . Lynch finished the season with 450 yards on 120 carries with two rushing touchdowns and did not break 100 rushing yards in a single game . 2010 season . Lynch suffered an ankle sprain in the Bills ' preseason opening game against the Washington Redskins and was expected to be out for three to four weeks . He started three games for the Bills before being traded to the Seattle Seahawks on October 5 for two draft picks , a fourth - rounder in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2012 . Seattle Seahawks . 2010 season . Lynch was traded to the Seahawks - for a fourth - round pick in 2011 and a fifth - round pick in 2012 - on October 5 , reuniting him with former Cal roommate and fellow running back Justin Forsett , a seventh - round draft pick of the Seahawks in 2008 . Lynch scored his first touchdown of the season on October 17 on a one - yard run against the Chicago Bears . On December 5 , he scored three touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers . In his first career playoff game on January 8 , 2011 against the New Orleans Saints , Lynch had a 67 - yard touchdown run in which he broke nine tackles and with one arm threw Saints cornerback Tracy Porter to the ground . The home field crowd ' s reaction to the run was so strong that it was recorded as seismic activity at a monitoring station 100 yards from the stadium . The fourth - quarter run proved to be the game winner , as three minutes later the game ended with the Seahawks defeating the Saints , 41 – 36 , capping one of the biggest upsets in NFL playoff history . Lynch had a total of 747 yards during the 2010 season . 2011 season . Lynch started 15 games , only missing one regular season game on November 23 , 2011 , due to back problems during warm ups . Lynch finished the 2011 season rushing for 1 , 204 yards and twelve touchdowns , both career bests and posting his first 1 , 000 yard season since 2008 . On December 18 , 2011 , Lynch set the franchise record for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown by scoring in his 10th straight game . The previous record of nine was set by Shaun Alexander in 2005 . Lynch led the NFL in rushing yardage over the final nine weeks of the season . On January 24 , 2012 Lynch was added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster to replace San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore . On March , 4 2011 Marshawn Lynch signed a 4 year $ 31 Million contract . Personal . Lynch has several relatives who have also played professional football . His cousins are wide receiver Robert Jordan , who played alongside Lynch at Cal from 2004 – 2006 , former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell , and quarterback Josh Johnson of the Cleveland Browns . Lynch ' s uncle , Lorenzo Lynch , had an 11 - year career in the NFL . Lynch was nicknamed " Money " in college . Additionally , he has referred to himself as being in " beast mode " during games . While in Buffalo , Lynch embraced the Buffalo community , in stark contrast to former Bills RB Willis McGahee , as noted by an interview with ESPN ' s Kenny Mayne . In the video interview , which has become an internet sensation , Lynch talks about his love of Applebee ' s , and his teammates joke that he loves chain restaurants . Lynch frequently eats Skittles during games , a habit which started when Lynch was in high school . After Lynch was shown eating the candy during a nationally - televised game on December 5 , 2011 , Mars offered him a two - year supply of Skittles and a custom dispenser for his locker . On December 30 , 2011 , he was fined $ 10 , 000 for wearing cleats featuring a Skittles pattern . Lynch also has an affinity for purchasing grills , saying he ' s been wearing the gold jewelry since junior high school . After the 2011 season , Lynch purchased a customized Seahawks grill in time for the 2012 season .