Marshawn Lynch, who once helped lift the Seattle Seahawks to prominence, recently visited the defending Super Bowl champions during training camp and used part of that time trying to understand one of the important questions on his mind:
Why does the NFL have more White defensive backs lately?
No, seriously.
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Lynch, who is a franchise folk hero and has virtual free run of the practice field and training facility, walked up Seahawks strong safety Julian Love during the team’s practice at Lumen Field and asked the following:
“Why y’all keep on getting all these White DBs?” Lynch asked Love. “What y’all gonna do with them, fam? What y’all gonna do with all them White DBs?”
Marshawn Lynch dons an eye-patch to promote “Skulls & Bones.” (Ubisoft)
For the record, the Seahawks have two White defensive backs currently on their roster. Ty Okada started 11 games last season and is trending toward keeping that starting strong safety job this coming season, his fourth in the league.
There’s also Maxen Hook, who is trying to earn a roster spot during training camp.
Both are White. Okada also has Japanese ancestry but none of that is the issue. The issue is why Lynch is so interested in the racial makeup of NFL defensive backs.
Okada was standing right next to Love when Lynch asked the question. And he seemed puzzled by the former running back’s curiosity.
A HBO Hard Knocks cameraman films video footage during Los Angeles Rams training camp at Cal Lutheran University. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
We know this because the scene played out on the latest episode of Hard Knocks on HBO. And right there, with the cameras rolling and everyone aware this stuff could be going out to a national cable audience, Lynch turned to Okada and made him an unofficial spokesman for White guys.
“How many of y’all is it?” Lynch asked Okada.
Because everyone knows all White guys know each other.
“What?” Okada asked as if Lynch had a horn coming out of his forehead.
“White DBs,” Lynch said.
“More and more,” Okada responded.
“What the [expletive] is going on?” Lynch said in shock. “What the [expletive] is going on?”
This is an actual conversation in 2026 America that is questioning nothing of major significance but also says a lot about our society.
Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch warms up at the NFL football team’s practice facility Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2019, in Renton, Wash. When Lynch played his last game for the Seahawks in 2016, the idea of him ever wearing a Seahawks uniform again seemed preposterous. Yet, here are the Seahawks getting ready to have Lynch potentially play a major role Sunday against San Francisco with the NFC West title on the line. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Because right there, Marshawn Lynch, serious or not, was absolutely showing off his Black privilege.
You’ve doubtless heard minorities and White liberal Karens complain about White privilege, while few people acknowledge that Black privilege is out there as well as any other kind of privilege folks contend exists.
It exists because, among other things, a Black person can say things a White person cannot. So a Black man named Lynch can ask a White man what the heck is going on that he and others of his race can play a position without anyone really reacting.
Now, let’s flip that script.
What would happen if, say, when Russell Wilson played for the Seahawks for a decade, a White former player had asked him, “What the [expletive] is going on” with so many Black quarterbacks playing in the NFL?
That White dude would’ve been labeled a racist and canceled on the spot.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) throws against the Houston Texans during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Justin Rex)
But the Black dude asking the White player that question is amplified on national television as entertainment. And the White player would have been labeled as soft if he was offended.
That is an example of Black privilege in the NFL. And it didn’t end there in this particular exchange.
“So tell me how this works in your head, you know what I mean?” Lynch presses Okada. “White people ain’t known for their dancing…”
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One supposes Lynch is tying to make the point, however inartfully, that defensive backs have to be light on their feet. So he asks Okada how he can do it despite being part of a race not “known for their dancing.”
Stereotype much?
Lynch is not the sharpest tool in the shed, folks. He went to Cuba for an Amazon Prime feature a couple of years ago and found a way to portray the communist country Cubans want to flee as a paradise, while telling those Cubans that the United States, the place they want to escape to, has problems.
Anyway, Okada felt the need to show Lynch he has rhythm and can dance. And that somehow sealed it for Lynch.
“Oh, yeah, there you go,” Lynch exclaimed. “Hey, you know what? I apologize for coming over here … Now I got it understood. Respect, my boy.”
Lynch apparently now understands White people can dance. And play in the defensive backfield on NFL teams.
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