Lynch has a strange nickname for Giacomini, too

By Brady Henderson

You might remember when Matt Flynn revealed that teammate Marshawn Lynch inexplicably calls the Seahawks’ new quarterback by a different name.

“I’m in the locker room and I’ll hear him yell from across the way, he just yells ‘Antonio!’ So, I don’t know. I guess I’m Antonio to him,” Flynn told “Brock and Salk” last month.

Breno Giacomini is of Brazilian and Italian descent, but he’s “The Big Russian” to teammate Marshawn Lynch. (AP)

Nicknames – specifically those that don’t seem to make much sense – apparently are another part of Lynch’s utterly unique personality. Just ask offensive tackle Breno Giacomini, or as Lynch calls him …

“He calls me ‘The Big Russian,'” Giacomini told “Brock and Salk” on Thursday.

The moniker is partly understandable. Giacomini is certainly big – he’s listed at 6-feet-7 and 318 pounds – but he’s definitely not Russian.

“I told him my parents are from Brazil and my great grandfather’s Italian,” said Giacomini, a Boston native. “I just go with it sometimes, man. You just got to go with it.”

Giacomini doesn’t seem to mind at all. He also doesn’t seem like a guy who would take any unwelcome grief. It was Giacomini that offensive line coach Tom Cable chose when asked which Seahawk he’d take with him in a dark alley.

“His play probably would show you why,” Cable told “Brock and Salk” last month. “He’s gonna hit somebody and he plays all out, all the way.”

Injuries forced Giacomini, 26, into the starting lineup in Week 11 of last season. He started the final seven games at right tackle, where he played with a noticeable edge that got under opponents’ skin and even got him penalized and fined.

It also helped Lynch rush for a career-high 1,204 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“We’re pretty good friends,” Giacomini said of Lynch. “We mess around a lot in the locker room. He thinks he’s tough but I kinda shut him down every once in a while. But he’s a good person. He really is.”