Seattle Seahawks star running back Marshawn Lynch declined to answer the onslaught of questions during Super Bowl Media Day, which could cause the NFL to order him to pay a sizable fine.

Marshawn Lynch's Quiet Media Day

As the league’s top rusher and one of the highest paid player on the Seahawks, Lynch’s thoughts on the upcoming Super Bowl – where he’ll face off against the Denver Broncos – were something no journalist would want to leave media day without. After cooperating with reporters for just 6 minutes, Lynch decided that he was done talking, reported the New York Daily News. While the crowd of reporters grew and the questions multiplied, Lynch remained silent.

Earlier in the 2013 NFL season, Lynch was fined $50,000 by the NFL for failure to fufill his media obligations. Ultimately, the NFL agreed to hold off on fining Lynch if he followed through on the upcoming interviews he was scheduled to conduct. If he didn’t keep up his end of the bargain, the league would fine him a total of $100,000.

Should NFL Fine Lynch?

Some felt that Lynch’s refusal to speak with the media for the duration of the time allotted on Tuesday was grounds for the NFL to fine him. The league, however, believes that Lynch technically did everything he had to do to avoid any penalty. It was also stated that the NFL will continue to evaluate Lynch’s attention to taking care of his media responsibilities.

"Players are required to participate and he participated," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told USA Today Sports. "We will continue to monitor the situation."

Journalists Gripe About Lynch's Silence

Lynch’s reluctance to speak with the media greatly irritated some journalists, including CBS Sports columnist Gregg Doyel. Recounting the incident on Tuesday, Doyel revealed that Lynch simply stood there, leaning against a wall while reporters desperately tried to get him to answer their questions.

"Some job we have, huh?" he quotes Kansas City Star writer Sam Mellinger.

"Humiliating," Doyel said he whispered back to Melliger at the scene.

One reporter who managed to get Lynch to share a few words was Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. Sanders asked the media-shy athlete about giving interviews. “I'm just about action. You say 'hut,' and there's action. All the unnecessary talk, it don't do nothing for me,” he told Sanders. “I appreciate that people want to hear from me, but I just go to work and do my thing. You feel me?"

– Chelsea Regan

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