Marshawn Lynch will always be remembered as one of the Seattle Seahawks’ greatest running backs, but is it quarters on the back’s mind now?
According to a post by Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr, Lynch, with the Raiders at the time, was paid a $5000 appearance fee by the now-defunct Alliance of American Football . . . in the form of 20,000 quarters.
Lynch apparently crashed the AAF’s quarterback draft at the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas last November, where he earned the loot. Here’s how things supposedly unfolded.
Per Orr:
According to one employee, Lynch, whose cousin Josh Johnson was the first pick in that draft, and who is notoriously media-averse, agreed to do a two-minute interview for the Alliance at that event in exchange for $5,000. But when a check was presented to Lynch, he asked that his money be delivered instead in quarters – which AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol took seriously.
In the end, 20,000 quarters were delivered to Lynch’s room and the interview apparently took place . . . but no one ever saw it. It didn’t air. (Correction: Less than a minute of it did air. Here’s that snippet.)
While this story might seem strange to most, 5000 rolls of quarters was likely an easy load for Lynch to carry.
A potential candidate for the Hall of Fame, Lynch will always be known as Seattle’s favorite bruising back, who could turn on a dime.
