Former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch took a trip to the original Houston – in Renfrewshire, Scotland – to find out if the local residents knew anything about Super Bowl 51, to be held in Houston, Texas.
Super Bowl 51 will feature the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons and their AFC counterparts, the New England Patriots, on February 5 at NRG Stadium.
As part of a Skittles ad campaign, Lynch, who won Super Bowl XLVIII in 2013 with the Seattle Seahawks, took to the sleepy Scottish streets just 15 miles west of Glasgow on a push bike ahead of the NFL’s showpiece event, and was surprised with his findings.
“We got the Super Bowl going on. You familiar with that?” Lynch asks a local girl in the video while perched on the bike with a bag full of the confectionery attached.
“I know this, yeah, obviously, it’s like so popular!” she responds to a shocked Lynch.
The girl wasn’t alone in her knowledge, with another interviewee telling a perplexed Lynch that some locals “take days off work” and stay up until “ridiculous o’clock” to tune in to the action stateside.
The California native, nicknamed ‘Beast Mode,’ also got acquainted with Scottish culture by visiting its famous countryside and playing the bagpipes – the country’s trademark musical instrument – with a local band.
Lynch even was mock-attacked by Scottish warriors and visited a castle built in 1160, around the time of the village’s inception.
However, Lynch stopped just short of wearing a kilt – the traditional knee-length garment worn by some Scottish men, without underwear.
“I don’t know about that! So where I’m from, like we don’t wear those… I ain’t going to say I make clothes, but you know I do a little bit of fashion,” Lynch protested.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Lynch, as he was nearly hit by an oncoming bus while performing a wheelie on his bike down the local high street in Paisley, near Houston.
In 2015, Lynch called it quits on a nine-year NFL career that also saw him suit up for the Buffalo Bills and play five times in the Pro Bowl, an annual game played between two teams comprising the best players from the NFC and AFC respectively.