On Jan. 8, 2011, Marshawn Lynch authored one of the greatest runs in NFL history. Known as the “Beast Quake,” the former Seahawks running back broke nine tackles on a 67-yard touchdown run against the Saints in the NFC Wild Card.
And teammate Lofa Tatupu missed it.
“Honestly, I had to catch it on replay,” the former NFL linebacker said on The Zach Gelb Show. “I had just suffered a concussion with Julius Jones on a head-on collision, I want to say the series before. All I remember, literally, was the crowd erupting, and I’m just like, ‘Yo, what’s going on?’ Then I turn around and I see on the Jumbotron Beast leaping into the end zone. I knew where I was. I knew I was at a football game. But I was like, ‘Oh, man, that’s cool.’”
Lynch took the handoff with less than four minutes to play and Seattle clinging to a 34-30 lead. His run essentially iced the game. The Seahawks, who went 7-9 during the regular season, won 41-36.
“One of the greatest runs we’ll ever see,” Tatupu said. “He had a similar run on a Monday or Sunday night in Arizona. With every yard, he gained more belief that, ‘You can’t take me down.’ It was awesome to watch that one and even the Arizona one that he had. Eerily similar: just up the right sideline and about 70 yards.”
Lynch, a five-time Pro Bowler, helped the Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, including a 43-8 win against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014.
While Lynch did not enjoy talking to the media, Tatupu raved about him as a teammate.
“One of the greatest teammates you’ll ever have,” Tatupu said. “I don’t know what it is with the media. It’s unfortunate because he gives the greatest soundbites. But you won’t find someone who said he was a bad teammate. It’s just not true.”