We saw a play about football last night. And this week, due to the upcoming Superbowl, there have been stories about Marshawn Lynch, a local guy, now with the Seattle Seahawks. He's in the past refused to talk to media, evidently having been burned by responses to his comments, so now he was threatened with a half a million fine if he didn't fulfill his obligations with the NFL. He sat in front of the media for five minutes and repeated that he was there because otherwise he'd be fined. Now he could have all kinds of reasons for this behavior, but isn't it interesting that he's being forced to speak to promote a billion dollar business?
Doesn't he have the right to not participate in the phony circus? I'm sure he could spout platitudes with the best of them, all agent trained to talk about the team and god and family and wave the flag around. He is choosing not to. I call that right speech. Evidently, he has a foundation which helps youth, and the papers have been saying he could have promoted that organization. But wouldn't that have been like bragging about his noble devotion to his home town? Maybe he's all action, no talk. I have followed him for a while, since it was playing football at my alma mater, and he's no cookie cutter player. It looks like he's trying to play the game his way. He may not win, but is it wrong to follow his own head and heart? Why?
Again, sometimes right speech is right silence.
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