Marshawn Lynch Tells New Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold He Heard 'Gingers Is Black'

Marshawn Lynch has given a warm — and very funny — welcome to Sam Darnold, the new quarterback of his former team, the Seattle Seahawks.

During a recent interview with Darnold on Lynch and Mike Robinson’s Get Got podcast, Beast Mode kicked things off on a lighthearted note. "Hey bruh, they told me that gingers is Black," he said to the QB. "That’s what I heard, bruh."

After some pushback from his co-host, Lynch argued that this marked “a muthafuckin' conversation starter" that would set the ensuing interview off in a more relaxed direction. Darnold, for his part, seemed to agree.

"You should see my baby pictures," he said."It’s like orange hair. I’m definitely ginger. It got a little darker with age. Someone told me that a couple days ago too."

Beast Mode's remark is potentially a reference to a recent trending TikTok conversation that sees social media users make a case that white people with ginger hair are actually Black, though Lynch himself does not explicitly mention it on the podcast.

The conversation progressed from there, with Darnold, who signed a three-year deal with the Seahawks in March reported to be worth over $100 million, discussing his storied path to Seattle. As Darnold put it, it's felt "amazing" to be welcomed by both the team and the fans.

"At the end of the day, everywhere I’ve gone throughout my journey whether it was in New York or Carolina or San Francisco then last year in Minnesota, I’ve been grateful for every opportunity that I’ve ever gotten to step on the filed. I truly mean that," Darnold explained.

"I don’t take that opportunity lightly. I just love the opportunities that I get and I don’t take them for granted. But at the same time, yeah, I didn’t play my best football my first four years in the NFL."

When Beast Mode pushed back on this self-assessment, citing Vikings stats from 2024, Darnold credited his resurgence as a quarterback, at least in part, to the time he spent in San Francisco.

"I learned a ton of great football," he said, as seen in the full interview below.

The Seahawks are set to begin their regular season on September 7 with a home game against the 49ers. One week later they have a showdown with the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.