Lynch: ‘I was expecting the ball’ on Seahawks’ final Super Bowl play

Unsurprisingly, Beast Mode wanted the ball.

Marshawn Lynch has finally spoken about not receiving a handoff from the 1-yard line on what turned out to be the Seahawks’ final offensive play in their Super Bowl loss, and yes, he was expecting to get the chance to punch the ball into the end zone.

Lynch, who is in Turkey with fellow NFL players DeAngelo Hall and Gary Barnidge, sat down for a rare extended interview with the sports network NTV Spor, and had this to say about the play: “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.”

As we all know, the play call ended up disastrously for Seattle. Russell Wilson attempted a pass to Ricardo Lockette, only to have the play jumped by New England cornerback Malcolm Butler, who intercepted the ball and ended the Seahawks’ title hopes just one yard away from an almost sure second straight Super Bowl victory.

So what did Lynch think of the decision to pass?

“I had no problem with the decision of the playcalling,” he said.

That’s not to say he didn’t think giving him the ball would have been the right choice, though.

“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,” he said. “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 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.”