For Marshawn Lynch, silence has a price, and that price is $100,000.
Lynch was fined $50,000 for not speaking to the media after Sunday's game, which triggered a suspended $50,000 fine from last season for the same reason. Lynch has now been fined three times for failing to adhere to the NFL's media policy. His silence during Super Bowl week became one of the largest stories prior to the Seattle Seahawks' dismantling of the Denver Broncos. (That did, however, lead to Lynch's instant-classic line: "I'm just about that action, boss.")
Of course, the media has had a significant role in promoting the NFL to be the behemoth it is today. You're not seeing every game in person, are you? But in truth, this is more about the NFL's control of players' behavior than it is about the media's need to get scintillating quotes from players. It's no secret that players now offer as little information as possible to the media, either to avoid the headaches that come with publicity, or to avoid giving opponents any kind of edge. Witness Robert Griffin III's repeated use of "We're focused on San Francisco" on Wednesday to evade questions about his job security.
Still, the NFL's media policy is clear: "Star players, or other players with unusually heavy media demands, must be available to the media that regulary cover their teams at least once during the practice week in addition to their required postgame media availability."
On the plus side, the fines collected from players go to help out former players in need through two different foundations. So there's that.
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