OTA Press Conference With Marshawn Lynch pic.twitter.com/LaZJSECSDQ
— OAKLAND RAIDERS (@RAIDERS) June 6, 2017
June 6 (UPI) -- Marshawn Lynch said he decided to join the Oakland Raiders when he heard they were leaving town.
"It's always been something, being from Oakland, you want to play at home and have that opportunity," Lynch told reporters Tuesday during his first press conference with the team. "Maybe them staying probably wouldn't have been so big for me to have come and play."
The Raiders will play the next two seasons in Oakland before moving the franchise to Las Vegas.
"Beast Mode" was asked about being excited at the prospect of joining Raiders stars Derek Carr, Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. He shook off the question by saying he had the whole city behind him.
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"I got Oakland behind me, the way we feel about where we're from and why represent where we're from so hard is because we know what the struggle is and how we get down," Lynch told reporters. "So every home game that I get to come to this [expletive] I'm probably gonna be riding with the whole town."
Lynch, 31, was notorious for his odd interviews during the first nine years of his career.
— Jack Del Rio (@coachdelrio) June 6, 2017
He retired following the 2015 season with 9,112 rushing yards and 74 scores. He also had nine touchdown receptions. The No. 12 pick in the 2007 NFL Draft started his career with the Buffalo Bills. He was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 2010. The former All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection won the Super Bowl with the Seahawks in 2014.
Marshawn Lynch has been powering through the days during the second week of OTAs. #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/Aj3IvZeUq6
— OAKLAND RAIDERS (@RAIDERS) June 2, 2017
"This actually born and raised and pissing in them hallways and running down them alley ways," Lynch told reporters Tuesday. "I really did that right here and I get an opportunity to play here."
On Monday, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio tweeted out a video of Lynch during OTAs. In the video, Lynch is seen carrying the football and hitting a hole between linemen. He explodes into the secondary and turns around a defensive back, before diving into the end zone.
Lynch was born in Oakland and attended Oakland Technical High School. He also attended the University of California Berkley.
