It's no secret that Marshawn Lynch wasn't a big fan of media availability during his time in the NFL.
He shared his feelings about it during one of the most notorious news conferences in NFL history.
"I'm just here so I don't get fined," Lynch said repeatedly during that well-documented Super Bowl media day interview.
While Lynch may not have been fined during that legendary performance, he was fined plenty of other times throughout his NFL career.
And in the end, the total value of his fines landed in the seven-figure range, as he explained in an appearance on Brandon Marshall's "I Am Athlete" podcast.
"The fines started accumulating, and it was from seasons before," Lynch detailed. "And now, you feel me, they run it up. So it got to a pretty penny."
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Just how much was that "pretty penny" worth? Lynch told Marshall and his cohosts that he racked up $1.2 million in fines during his NFL career.
Marshall assured his viewers that the number was no joke. The former star receiver revealed that he had received $2.2 million in fines during his playing days for a variety of reasons, including skipping contractually obligated media availabilities.
But how did the players — and more specifically, Lynch — rack up those kinds of fines? The former star running back explained that it was often a matter of timing, especially after wins.
Lynch explained that he would head for the locker room early after wins, as his services wouldn't always be needed to bleed the clock. Media members would then arrive 15 to 20 minutes after the game's end, at which point Lynch was no longer there.
"So they all [ask], 'Where's Marshawn at?' " Lynch explained, before answering. "He gone. So if I wasn't there, then how can I make myself available?"
A fair question, but one that has a simple answer: Don't leave early in the first place.
Even still, while those fines may have stung Lynch at the time, he still made plenty during his playing career to offset that loss.
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Marshawn Lynch career earnings
Lynch earned just under $56.8 million during his 12-year playing career, per Spotrac.com. A bulk of that money came from his seven seasons with the Seahawks, during which he made just under $38.6 million.
Below is a breakdown of his career earnings by team, ranked from highest to lowest:
| Team | Years | Total |
| Seahawks | 2010-15, 2019 | $38,591,055 |
| Bills | 2007-09 | $11,178,823 |
| Raiders | 2017-18 | $7,000,000 |
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Marshawn Lynch net worth
Lynch has an estimated net worth of $35 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Much of that stems from his NFL career earnings but another portion of it comes from endorsement deals that he has signed over the years. Those were estimated to be worth $5 million annually in 2015, per Forbes.
Meanwhile, Lynch had reportedly not spent any of his career earnings from his NFL days as of 2016. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport detailed as much during an interview on KJR's "The Ian and Puck Show."
"Marshawn Lynch has a lot of money," Rapoport said. "He hasn't spent a dime of his actual playing money ... ever."
That helps to explain why Lynch's net worth remains so high even years after his retirement from the NFL.
