Marshawn Lynch documentary coming soon — ‘It’s an Oakland thing’
Coming soon to a silver (and black) screen near you, “Lynch: A History.”
That would be Marshawn Lynch, the Oakland Tech, Cal and Raiders beast who is as Oakland as Oakland gets.
David Shields, New York Times bestselling author, has trained his storytelling on a documentary featuring Lynch. The film will be released on iTunes and Amazon on Sunday, and it will show at Oakland’s New Parkway Theater on Aug. 7.
Shields could hardly have picked a more compelling subject for his directorial debut than Lynch, who giddily drove an equipment cart on the Memorial Stadium field after a Cal win over Washington, who ingested Skittles by the fistful, who was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 12th pick of the 2007 NFL draft, who was so unimpressive in Buffalo that the Bills traded him, for a song, to the Seahawks where, Incredible Hulk-style, he morphed into Beast Mode and ripped off arguably the greatest run in the NFL’s 100-year history.
There’s more, but we don’t want to give it all away. Except to say that Shields has pulled together more than 700 video clips, including video from Oakland icons Tupac, Bruce Lee and Bill Russell.
“Lynch isn’t the only Oakland native to dismantle the agreed-upon narrative,” wrote social media strategist Ben M.F. Rapson in publicizing the documentary. “Turns out, it’s an Oakland thing.”
If you’re wondering what that means, here’s a taste from the trailer, showing Lynch answering questions on his terms: