Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch's love for Skittles is a well-documented relationship, and it seems the candy company is returning that love -- yet again -- with a special Marshawn Lynch-themed Skittles pack.
Dubbed "Marshawn's Pack," the special edition Skittles come in an appropriate Raiders silver and black, along with Lynch's photo and signature on the front of the packaging.
The special Skittles debuted Tuesday in a YouTube video featuring the running back. In the video, Lynch cracks open a shipping crate filled with the candy, before comically diving onto a pile of, well, candy wrappers featuring his own face.
"This is huge," Lynch tells someone off screen in the video. "My face is on this pack of Skittles. This is dope."
The Skittles will not, however, be available in stores, but instead the candy brand is turning its stock of 2,400 Marshawn Lynch Skittles share packs (the number itself being an homage to Lynch's Raiders number 24) into a contest. Those wanting the special Skittles will be forced to give up their name, age, email and mailing address at MarshawnsPack.com, for a chance at two packs of the candy.
Lest you think that Lynch's enthusiasm for Skittles is forged out of the fact that he is a spokesman for the brand, it is indeed not. That relationship has dated back to Lynch's days in Pop Warner ball, where his mother famously told the origin story of the Skittles-Lynch relationship. She told Seahawks.com in 2012 that she called the candy "power pellets," handing them to the young Lynch and telling him it would help him "run fast."
"When Marshawn was 12 or 13, we'd go to his games, and I'd always have little candies in my purse," Delisa Lynch said. "Before the game, I would say, 'Here Marshawn, come and get your power pellets."
That tradition of downing Skittles between plays continued before formally becoming a known fact about Lynch, when he was famously spotted on the Seahawks sideline eating the candy in 2011.
Get your beer, here
Move over Bird scooters -- there's a new problem-solving vehicle in town.
Aramark, the company that provides concessions to the Baltimore Ravens and many other teams, is bringing "BeerCycles" to M&T Bank Stadium this fall as part of a 10-stadium "Tour de Taps." The three-wheeled cart, which resembles a rickshaw, will sell Anheuser-Busch products and can carry up to three half-kegs.
The idea is to help lessen long lines for alcohol during games by speeding up transactions, as well as providing refreshment to places in the stadium where more drink-seeking fans are, said Aramark senior director of corporate communications David Freireich.
The Ravens' BeerCycle will be, of course, adorned with purple and gold and will be stationed in a location where fans will be expected to congregate before the game.
A staffer will board the bike and drive it to another spot, following fan migration patterns.
If fans get used to having alcohol appear by bike and worry about having to use antiquated methods at other stadiums, there's some good news. Nine other teams will have BeerCycles at their stadium, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. The latter two teams will sell MillerCoors products instead.
Sports on 08/24/2018