Marshawn Lynch built his career on taking contact. Near the end of it, he says, his training staff showed him what a typical game did to his body: the impact of seven car crashes. Now retired, the former Seahawks running back is opening up about it.
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“It totaled out to seven total car crashes,” Lynch said on All The Smoke Fight. Asked whether that came from one impact, he clarified. “No, from one game.”
He then explained what makes running back such a unique job.
“Running back is the only position where you get to get through all 11 to be successful,” he added. “So when I think about it, as I’m seven and a half, eight yards deep, I get through the offensive line, wide receivers, make sure they get their block, and then you make sure that all 11 don’t tackle you. So, you kind of got to have like a little off mindset to think that you can accomplish that. There’s damn near 21 people that you got to maneuver.”
As for how the number came about, Lynch said it started late in his career.
“Towards the end of my career, they started putting these little packs in your shoulder pads. It’ll calculate the amount of contact. Our trainer came to me. Like, yeah, you walking like it. I’m like, walking like what? I came in the training room after the game on Monday. He’s like, yeah, you walking like it. I’m like, what you talking about? He’s like, man, we did the research on your box. It totaled out to seven total car crashes.”
The league has been open about this kind of tracking. In 2023, the NFL explained how it uses specialized equipment sensors and cloud-based analytics to keep players safe. It collects the data through the preseason and regular season and shares what it finds with teams, whose staff use it to shape training and prevent injuries.
Sensors sit in shoulder pads and helmets, and some mouthguards carry them too. Those track the speed, direction, force, location and severity of hits to the head. The NFL says the data has helped cut avoidable head impacts and is being used to look at changes to the kickoff.
Lynch’s injury log backs up the toll, though it also shows a back who mostly played through things. The biggest hits came late. A groin strain in October 2018 landed him on injured reserve, and he had surgery days later. It cost him 10 games.
In 2015, an abdominal injury required surgery that ended his regular season, with seven games missed. That same year, he also dealt with a hamstring pull that cost two games and a calf strain that cost none.
Earlier in his career, the injuries were not that bad, when compared to the later ones. A high ankle sprain in 2007 kept him out three games. A shoulder sprain in 2008 cost him one, and a back problem in 2011 cost another. His back spasms in 2012 lingered all season, yet he missed no games. A foot sprain that year didn’t stop him either.
All told, that’s about missing more than 20 regular-season games during the years he was actively signed to an NFL roster.
Marshawn Lynch played 12 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, and Las Vegas Raiders. He had 2,453 carries for 10,413 yards, 287 catches for 2,214 yards, and scored 94 touchdowns. He was selected to play in five Pro Bowls and won one championship.
Looking back, he says he was fortunate with his knees and ankles, though he deals with some “degenerative” issues and shoulder injuries. He credits getting through such a punishing career to his faith.
“13 years in the league, bang-bang seven- seven total car crashes per game,” he added. “You know, my boy God did his thing with this one here.”
Lynch’s body took the hits for years, and in his own words, he believes faith helped carry him through.