Ex-Cal Star Marshawn Lynch Becomes Part Owner of Oakland Soccer Team
Add professional soccer to Marshawn Lynch’s expanding empire. As an owner, that is.
Lynch has joined the Oakland Roots ownership ahead of the USL Championship season that begins next month.
“Growing up in The Town, we always could count on the pro teams in this area, but with most of those ones that I grew up with gone, I knew the minute I heard about the opportunity to join Oakland Roots, it wasn’t just something I wanted to do, it was something I had to do,” Lynch said in a statement.
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The Roots debuted in 2019, but Lynch has had a much longer standing in the Oakland community, including his days at Oakland Tech and Cal before a ground-shaking NFL career with the Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks and Raiders. He was a 2007 first-round draft pick at No. 12 by the Bills, 11 spots after his hometown Raiders took JaMarcus Russell No. 1.
Lynch’s entrepreneurial touch goes beyond his BeastMode Apparel, BeastMode Marketing and Rob Ben’s Restaurant. He’s supported a pair of start-up football leagues — Fan Controlled Football and the Oakland Panthers’ indoor team — while also starting a marijuana brand.
The Roots’ 32-game schedule runs from May 8 to Oct. 30, and their home opener at Laney Stadium is June 19 against Sacramento Republic FC.
The Raiders were in Oakland for 47 years over two stints before moving to Las Vegas in 2020, and the Golden State Warriors played their home games in Oakland from 1971 to 2019 before moving to San Francisco following the 2019 season.
As those in the San Francisco Bay Area know “The Town” is the name proud locals have for the City of Oakland, differentiating it from San Francisco, which is known as “The City.”
Like the soccer team name, Lynch has Oakland roots. Before coming to Cal in 2006, Lynch graduated from Oakland Tech, where he participated in basketball, wrestling and track as well as football.
Lynch turns 35 next Thursday, and he’ll do so as a Roots owner.
“From the start, we have tried to build an ownership group that was excited about more than just pro sports, but also about Oakland and our Purpose,” Roots co-founder and CMO Edreece Arghandiwal said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more proud to welcome someone who has long been an inspiration to Oaklanders and all of us at Roots.
“Who Marshawn is and what he represents means so much to the community and the greater Bay Area. He has always been about the action and he is exactly the type of person who can help us realize our vision for giving back to the city we all love.”
The Roots and Lynch are partnering with the Goalsetter app to help provide financial education to youth in Oakland.
“Giving kids in my home town a pro soccer club and players to look up to and a team that this community and city can get hella excited about was something I had to get down with,” Lynch added. “And then, you layer in the commitment they are making to this city through all our grassroots efforts, the partnership with Goalsetter, just reassured and told me that the organization isn’t just talking about creating change, but really being about that action and making (stuff) happen.”
Marshawn Lynch
 Lynch with the Seattle Seahawks in 2014
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| Free agent | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | April 22, 1986 Oakland, California |
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| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Oakland Technical High School (Oakland, California) |
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| College: | California | ||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||||
Marshawn Terrell Lynch (born April 22, 1986) is an American football running back who is a free agent. Nicknamed “Beast Mode” for his powerful running style and consistent ability to run over defenders and break tackles,[1][2] he has played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Seattle Seahawks. Lynch played college football at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned All-American honors and became the school’s second all-time career rusher.[3] He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft, whom he was a member of for three full seasons until he joined Seattle during the 2010 season.
Playing for the Seahawks from 2010 to 2015, Lynch earned four consecutive Pro Bowls, made one first-team All-Pro selection, and twice led the league in rushing touchdowns. He also helped the team win their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XLVIII. Lynch retired in 2015 following an injury-plagued year, but returned to the NFL in 2017 with the Oakland Raiders. After two seasons, Lynch retired a second time until he reunited with the Seahawks in 2019 for their final regular season game and playoff run. He has considered a potential return to the NFL for 2021.
Seahawks franchise records
As of 2020’s NFL season, Marshawn Lynch held at least 18 Seahawks franchise records, including:
- Most rushing attempts (playoff career): 211
- Most rushing attempts (playoff season): 65 (2013)
- Most rushing yards (playoff career): 970
- Most rushing yards (playoff season): 318 (2014)
- Most rushing yards per attempt (minimum ten carries) (playoff game): 6.89 (January 8, 2011 against the New Orleans Saints)
- Most rushing touchdowns (game): 4 (November 9, 2014 against the New York Giants; tied with Curt Warner and Shaun Alexander – 3×)
- Most rushing touchdowns (playoff career): 12
- Most rushing touchdowns (playoff season): 4 (2013)
- Most rushing yards per game (playoff season): 106 (2014)
- Most total touchdowns (playoff career): 12
- Most total touchdowns (playoff season): 4 (2013)
- Most yards from scrimmage (playoff career): 1,122
- Most yards from scrimmage (playoff season): 381 (2014)
- Most yards from scrimmage (playoff game): 183 (January 18, 2015 against the Green Bay Packers)
- Most all purpose yards (playoff career): 1,122
- Most all purpose yards (playoff season): 381 (2014)
- Most 100+ yard rushing games (playoffs): 6
- Most games with at least one touchdown scored (playoffs): 7
