Marshawn Lynch and Marcus Peters aren’t cousins by blood, but the bond between them in thicker than the Sequoia trees located just a couple hours away from their shared hometown of Oakland.
Lynch is about seven years older than Peters but the two have spent countless time together over the years. Lynch served as a mentor to Peters when he was a rising high school prospect in Oakland and then housed Peters for a time while Peters was at the University of Washington and Lynch played for the Seattle Seahawks.
A lot of their bond was expressed off the field. But for one day in 2017, fans across the country got to see what the bond of Lynch and Peters meant to one another.
The Kansas City Chiefs, who drafted Peters in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, were playing Lynch and the Oakland Raiders on a primetime Thursday night game.
Marshawn Lynch went to protect Marcus Peters during a 2017, despite being on different teams
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who was on the Chiefs at the time, had Marshawn Lynch recently on his podcast, It Needed To Be Said, where they relieved the moment. It happened after Marcus Peters made a tackle on Raiders quarterback Derek Carr that caused an uproar on the Oakland sideline.
“Marcus Peters gonna get in the fight with the referee,” Hill said. “He went out on the field to stop his cousin. He on this sideline. MP on the Chiefs sideline. MP, he had, what he had did, tackle Derek Carr?”
“Yeah,” Lynch said.
“He was arguing with the linemen and the refs,” Hill said. “This man ran from the Raider sideline to stop it.”
Lynch then took over the story from there, discussing how the important of family was embedded in him for years. Even though Peters was wearing a different uniform than him, Lynch’s brain didn’t make the distinction. He saw one of his family getting into it.
“Family just instantly clicked,” Lynch said. “Everything else didn’t even matter. I forget that we on the m*********** national stage.”
The officials did eject Lynch from the game for shoving an official during the play. And while it didn’t go the way he wanted it to, Peters was definitely appreciative of what his friend did for him.
“They can say what they want but one thing’s for certain: Family do come first,” Peters said after the game.
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