Marshawn Terrell Lynch (born April 22, 1986, in Oakland, California) is an American football running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bills in the first round (12th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft. Lynch was 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. Lynch played collegiately at California where he was the school's second all-time career rusher with 3,230 yards. Lynch holds the school record for most 100 yard rushing games at 17.

Lynch attended Oakland Technical High School. In his 2003 season, Lynch amassed 1,722 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in only 8 regular season games, and an additional 375 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in 2 post-season 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 3 fumbles. Lynch also played some quarterback and wide receiver in high school. 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.