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To outsiders, Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch remains an enigma. To those who share a locker room with him, they paint a different picture.

(Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports)

RENTON, Wash. — The Man Who Won’t Speak is sitting at his locker, legs propped up over a pulled-out drawer of discarded cleats — reminders of touchdown runs and broken tackles. The Man Who Won’t Speak is sitting at his locker, surrounded on each side by 14-inch, customized speakers, which have been turned up to near-full volume.

The Man Who Won’t Speak is sitting at his locker, singing along to the song "Don’t Snitch," by Oakland street rapper Mac Dre, who was shot to death riding in a car 10 years ago. The song pulsates in the face of anyone who thinks about approaching.

No one does. Hometown media members don’t request his presence. Team personnel know not to tell him to turn down the music — "He won’t," is what they say in response to requests he lower the volume — and so The Man Who Won’t Speak continues bouncing his head to the beat while everything moves around him.

This is how Marshawn Lynch operates inside his own clubhouse at the Seattle Seahawks training facility each day.

So two New York-area reporters approached Lynch Thursday, seeing if The Man Who Won’t Speak might break his own edict.

"I’m all right," Lynch said calmly and politely over the blasting music. "Thank you, though. I appreciate it."

That’s all Lynch had to say Thursday.

The request to break his self-imposed silence is a timely one: Lynch, the superstar running back for the Seahawks and the best rusher in this NFL postseason, is only two days away from arriving at the biggest media circus in the sporting world.

The Man Who Won’t Speak might not have anything to say about the Super Bowl, but that isn’t stopping it from coming.

"He’s just a good guy — a real good guy," Seattle right guard, J.R. Sweezy said. "People get on him about not doing interviews and stuff, but he’s not that type of person. He doesn’t need to talk about things to get his point across. He does it on the field on Sundays. My feeling is that’s how football should be."

But it’s not.

Lynch found that out the hard way on Jan. 5, when he was fined $50,000 by the NFL for not speaking with the media all season. The league reportedly agreed to delay collection of the fine if Lynch complied with the league’s policy, but if he violates it again the fine will be another $50,000.

So far, he has met the NFL halfway: He has spoken to the media four times since the fine was handed down. However, his interviews are usually short and filled with one-sentence platitudes, designed to not be taken out of context.

His interview session on the Friday, prior to the NFC Championship Game, consisted of 116 words.

"If you ask me, he’s really smart to be that way," said Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate. "Everything you say or do can be twisted. At least none of his words can be twisted. You see when Richard Sherman says something to the media, it’s, ‘Oh, he’s a bad guy.’ It’s probably smart to just keep his mouth shut."

In a locker room that is still dealing with the backlash of Sherman’s postgame interview last Sunday night, Lynch’s approach is winning converts.

Those inside the walls of the Seahakws’ facility say the gruff, hard exterior Lynch puts on is partially his personality, partially a front to ward off others. The 27-year-old four-time Pro Bowler is in his seventh season, fourth in Seattle since coming over in a trade from the Buffalo Bills. What little he says about his personal life is usually about where he came from — the rough streets of Oakland.

But underneath Lynch’s facade is a different person.

"He used to come up to Cal when he was a senior in high school," said Seahawks defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, who played with Lynch in college with the Golden Bears. "He used to ask dudes for cleats so he could go back and take them to his neighborhood, (for) high school kids and league kids who couldn’t afford cleats. He’d take a trash bag and walk around the facility and collect."

Mebane still smiles when he recounts that story. And there are times when he wonders why Lynch doesn’t open up about good deeds like that or about his personality. Teammates say Lynch is incredibly smart, that he is one of the funniest players in the locker room, always straight-forward, in a busting-your-chops manner to get a guy to get back up after a down day.

But Mebane doesn’t question Lynch’s motives for remaining silent. Nor does anyone else on the Seattle Seahawks.

"He’s just ‘Beast Mode,’" said Hall of Famer and NFL Network personality Michael Irvin, referring to Lynch’s nickname during a visit to the team facility Thursday. "That’s what a beast does — beasts don’t talk. Beasts just perform. Beasts just growl. You only get rumblings out of a beast. That’s it."

As Seattle’s period of open locker room access began winding down Thursday, Lynch points to Mebane, who is recounting the origins of their relationship. Mebane points back and says, "Don’t worry boy, I got you."

Lynch nods back.

The Man Who Won’t Speak then flips to the next song on his playlist, pulls a knit cap down over his head and sits back at his locker with his legs once again propped up.

On the front of the cap? A Jason Voorhees hockey mask from "Friday The 13th."