Warren Moon joined the Rich Eisen Show Monday to respond to the Marshawn Lynch comments from Turkey that have made the media rounds the past 24 hours. Moon reacted specifically to those comments by Lynch that implied the Seahawks' coaching staff did not want Lynch to be the MVP of the game (and ultimately, the face of the NFL).
In case you missed it, when asked about the final play of the Super Bowl, Lynch said: "To be honest with you, I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I was expecting the ball. Yes, I was expecting the ball. But in life, these things happen. Like I told a reporter after the game, it's a team sport.
"I had no problem with the decision of the play-calling. I mean, you know, I think it was more of a ... how do I say this? When you look at me, and you let me run that ball in ... I am the face of the nation. You know, MVP of the Super Bowl. That's pretty much the face of the nation at that point of time.
"I don't know what went into that call. I mean, maybe it was a good thing that I didn't get the ball. I mean, you know, it cost us the Super Bowl. I mean, I have full ... I have full confidence in my teammates to execute that plan because we've done it so many more times. But would I love to had the ball in? Yes, I would have. But the game is over, and I am in Turkey."
These quotes, naturally, caused a little bit of a stir on the interwebs and subsequently have been at the top of the sports talk radio news cycle this morning. The Rich Eisen Show invited Warren Moon on their show this morning, and as you know, Moon is a radio commenter for the Seahawks and is a mentor to Russell Wilson. That caveat is a necessary one, but it's definitely interesting hearing Moon's fairly unique point of view on the subject.
"Here's the issue though," Eisen said to Moon, addressing Marshawn Lynch's implications. "It's not just the X's and O's, Warren. The underlying issue of this mindset is that Russell Wilson is the favored child, if you will, for the Seahawks and Marshawn Lynch is not."
Moon replied:
"Every quarterback on a football team is a favored child. Let's get that straight right away, okay. Every quarterback on every football team is the favored child, but they're [the coaching staff] not going to do something that's not going to make them win football games.
"Everybody knows how Marshawn Lynch is treated by the Seattle Seahawks organization. He's treated like a china plate throughout the week of practice. He doesn't practice, they make sure he's rested, they make sure he's healed, they make sure he's ready to play. They've already put another offer on the table for him to be one of the highest paid running backs in the league, if not the highest paid. So they want Marshawn Lynch back around here given all the problems that he can cause for a football team and how much of a problem he is to manage. They still want the guy here.
"Part of Marshawn's problem is he just doesn't trust a lot of people and that trust goes into this same call at the Super Bowl. He just probably doesn't think that they wanted him to have the football for all the reasons that he said, but that's just Marshawn. He's a different bird. He's wound up a little bit differently because of his upbringing, because of the environment that he grew up in and some of the things that have happened to him earlier in his career. All that thinking by him is understood; doesn't mean it's always valid but it's understood."
Thanks to the Rich Eisen show for passing along Moon's comments.
The Rich Eisen Show airs daily from noon-3:00PM ET on DirecTV's Audience Network (239) and simulcast nationally via Fox Sports Radio. The Rich Eisen Show is also available via the NFL Now app and in podcast form via PodcastOne.