Marshawn Lynch’s Appearance On ‘Running Wild With Bear Grylls’ Was An Instant Classic

“I know you got courage and all that, but Imma have to see what them hands are talking about.”

A Bear Grylls vs. Marshawn Lynch wilderness fight would make the McGregor/Diaz pay per view ratings look like a regular season WNBA game. Grylls was the youngest ever Chief Scout in the UK at the age of 35 and summited Mount Everest just 18 months after partially crushing three vertebrae in a parachute accident that nearly left him paralyzed.

Marshawn, well…

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Bear and Marshawn trekked through the Corsican Mountains in France, where the two had two days to get from one point in the mountain range to another. For dinner, they had to trek down to the bottom of the mountain to retrieve a hog that fell off a cliff. Marshawn was tasked with hauling it back up to the top, a job that took a toll on the retiree.

Here’s a video of Bear using a piece of Marshawn’s dreads as tinder to start a fire.


Although the episode was filled with funny Beast Mode-isms, the two stopped at the top of the mountain and engaged in a heart-to-heart that will make you love Marshawn even more.

As transcribed by SB Nation:

Grylls: “So, if you had to say to, like, a young guy in Oakland who really wants to make it, who wants to be the new Beast, and he’s got the talent, what would you say to him?”

Marshawn: “I’d ask him what his grades look like.”

G: “Why’s that?”

M: “Because the reality is 1 percent actually make it to the NFL, so if there’s something that’s going to happen, that’s going to be your backup plan.”

G: “Have a backup plan, is what you’re saying.”

M: “Exactly. I done played with guys who, on the first day in the NFL, have a career-ending injury. So, I mean, ain’t none of it promised. But I tell you, I had a backup plan, until that dream became a reality.”

G: “What was the backup plan?”

M: “My degree. Social welfare — basically what I’m doing right now with my foundation.”

G: “What does that do?”

M: “We’re about empowering underprivileged youth in the inner city. Our biggest thing is we got babies killing babies from where I’m from right now. We get through to that one kid, who knows where he end up? We do a lot for them — financial, literacy — we give scholarships.”

G: “Well, they must — they will all so feel very proud when they see you go through some of the battles you went through today, you know? They will, because it’s the same lessons, isn’t it, you know? Keep going when it hurts. Just keep going. Dig deep.”

Never change, Marshawn. Please, never change.

[h/t SB Nation]

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Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.