Marshawn Lynch says he’s ‘got the whole town riding with me’ in Oakland

Marshawn Lynch kept it real at his first press conference as a member of the Raiders. “Just to play in Oakland, shit, it's like a dream come true or something like that.”

Playing in Oakland was obviously a big grab for Lynch, who is from the city. But he also pointed to the team moving to Las Vegas in 2020 as something that nudged him out of retirement.

“I mean, it's always been something, being from Oakland, you want to play at home,” he said. “I had the opportunity. Maybe them staying probably wouldn't have been so big for me to want to come play.”

Lynch continued to stress the importance of being a symbol of hope for the city of Oakland, allowing the people there to watch somebody perform from the area.

“With me being from here, continuing to be here, gives them an opportunity — they get to see someone that actually did it, from where they're from and for the team they probably idolize.”

Lynch wasn’t concerned with how good the Raiders are expected to be next season. He was all about Oakland.

“I got the whole town riding with me. So that's good what they've got going on. All that good shit you just said. But I got a whole new Oakland behind me. The way we feel just about where we're from and why we represent where we're from so hard is because we know what the struggle is and how we get down.”

In case Marshawn hadn’t kept it real enough, he gave us this gem:

“Every home game that I get to come to this motherfucker, I'm probably going to be riding with this whole town.

“This is actually born and raised and bred pissing in them hallways and running down them alleyways,” he said. “I really did that, right here and now I get an opportunity to play here.”

Another aspect of his press conference that you couldn’t see by video viewing was his stance. This is a man who is comfortable and does not care what he looks like in his comfort.

We’re still in the middle of the offseason, but Lynch’s time in Oakland has already been fun. There’s no telling what the season will hold.