Marshawn Lynch looked a lot different in high school, but will still run you over today

Staff writer

Tue, Sep 11, 2018, 5:17 AM·2 min read

There were a lot of questions about how the Oakland Raiders offense would look with Jon Gruden back on the sideline. In Gruden’s system, it turns out that Marshawn Lynch looks exactly like the Marshawn Lynch we’ve seen all throughout his NFL career.

But it wasn’t always that way. During the broadcast, ESPN decided to show a picture of Lynch in high school … and let’s just say he looks a lot different today.

MARSHAWN LYNCH LOOKED LIKE A PREPPY NERD IN HIGH SCHOOL pic.twitter.com/vlWdl1HVAe
— joon (@joonlee) September 11, 2018

Tread lightly when discussing that picture, because we can’t imagine Lynch would take too kindly to being called a nerd today.

He proved as much during Monday’s game. Lynch delivered a vintage score on the Raiders’ first offensive drive of the 2018 season. On the team’s seventh play, Lynch dragged what looked like the entire Los Angeles Rams defense with him into the end zone to put the Raiders ahead early.

Lynch took the handoff from Derek Carr from the 10-yard line. At about the five-yard line, Lynch was met by a Rams defender. He bounced off the initial tackle before a number of Rams swarmed Lynch at about the four-yard line.

But Lynch refused to go down. He continued driving his legs — and may have received some push from his offensive linemen — as he plowed his way toward the end zone. Rams linebacker Cory Littleton desperately jumped on the pile of players trying to take Lynch down, and even that couldn’t get the job done.

Despite the Rams’ best efforts, Lynch rumbled his way into the end zone, giving the Raiders the early 7-0 lead.

That’s what we’ve come to expect from Lynch during his NFL career. Though you might be tempted to tease Lynch for that high school photo, he probably could have run you over back then too.