Marshawn Lynch is going to upstage the NFL Draft for a few moments by announcing his signing with the Oakland Raiders Thursday.
The problem with this is obvious. He can't upstage it all day long.
The NFL Draft is one of those events that demeans all who come in contact with it, because it basically extols the three virtues the owners find most inspiring – dishonesty, bullying and treachery. Between everyone lying about everything they do, making players submit to the most revolting reputational indignities, and just good old-fashioned broken promises like, "If you're there at 119, we're taking you, oh wait, we suddenly hate you and your skill set," the draft is largely a festival of misery.
Not universally, mind you. Some players love it, especially the ones who hit the lottery, get picked higher than they thought they would and go to the perfect team for their talents and temperaments. That's not the usual road, but there you go.
But mostly, nah. And we're not even getting into the cavalcade of media self-anointeds who think they know what they're talking about but only serve to remind us that not everybody is a fun companion in a bar.
Now the disclaimer: If you like the NFL Draft, fine. Wallow in every minute of it with our blessing. It'll keep you from all level of other mischief, and it is relatively harmless fun if you can deal with the aesthetic unpleasantries to which we just referred. Just understand that you are spending 356 minutes of party prep for three days of partying and six days of cleanup. It's a hamster wheel of fun, but it is a hamster wheel.
But then there's Marshawn Lynch, who overcame being one of those draft casualties (because Buffalo didn't work for him, and he didn't work all that well for Buffalo, either), is coming out of retirement to be traded and then rendered a Raider in the time still allotted for them to reside in Oakland. As a distraction, this will play well enough. It sure beats DeMarcus Cousins being traded by Sacramento during the NBA All-Star Game.
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I suppose this is a heart-rending tale of one man's loyalty to his city (the right place at the right price), although there is the naggingly worrisome component that going back to football won't be good for his overall health. It is the risk he runs, to be sure, and one can only assume that he has made a clearheaded choice, but this is not a spot that treats its recidivists well.
That's recidivists, as in "folks who walked away happily, then found out they needed it too much for their own good."
Frankly, there is no good reason not to want this to turn out well for Lynch (the Raiders can take of themselves with or without him, and within two years will do exactly that), but it is a case of bucking some daunting odds in what is too often a zero-sum game. That's a level of risk that should make anyone queasy.
But it is what Marshawn Lynch wants, risks and all, and as a grown adult he should get the opportunity few are afforded – to chase and catch his dream until it stops being a dream and becomes a chore.
If it works out for the Raiders as well, fine. Lynch isn't the one who will put them over the top in a conference dominated by three teams – New England, the Patriots and Bill Belichick – but if he finds the athletic closure he seeks, it ought to be good enough for the rest of us.
Especially if it even momentarily minimizes the rest of the hot rhetorical/gasbaggy mess that is Draft Night. If nothing else, here's hoping Marshawn Lynch is the star of the night. That's not the way to bet, of course, but a person can hope.
