THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016

Just when NFL fans thought that a retirement might actually stick, there’s now a chance that former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch hasn’t played his last down quite yet.

Surprised? Not really.

Curious to see what happens next? Always.

WHETHER OR not Lynch is really serious about a return remains to be seen, but on Thursday, a family member of his told the media that he was thinking about a return to football this season.

This coming after a number of times telling the media that he was done, finished and wasn’t going to play anymore.

Because the Seahawks placed Lynch on the reserved/retired list in the spring, he is still part of the team. How much of a part still remains to be seen.

Entering Sunday’s season opener, the Seahawks are planning to start backup running back Christine Michael ahead of Thomas Rawls against the Miami Dolphins after Rawls missed a majority of the preseason recovering from an ankle injury. Rawls didn’t play much like a rookie filling in for Lynch when he was dealing with back issues in 2015, and Michael picked up where Rawls left off when he was lost for the season in November.

Should Lynch opt to come back, Seattle has the option to add him to the roster after Week 4, trade him or just release him.

Then again, Lynch has to decide to come back to football and Seattle.

If he does, it will makes things a lot more interesting to see what the team decides to do.

If not, they appear prepared to move on without him.

Without Lynch, they might not have advanced to two straight Super Bowls, winning one, and having the chance at another. There’s a better chance that they might not have even advanced to the NFC playoffs in which they finished 7-9 in 2011, upsetting New Orleans on his touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

Should Lynch return, it will definitely make things a lot more interesting this season.

THE PHRASE track meet with huddles is often times reserved for the 8-man football game, but that didn’t stop Coeur d’Alene High and Mead from lighting up the scoreboard at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane on Thursday night.

Coeur d’Alene, behind 688 total yards on offense, beat Mead 57-31. Mead finished with 488 total yards on offense.

In the Vikings’ other two games this season, they scored 36 points at Folsom (Calif.) and 48 against Central Valley of Spokane. The game at Folsom was also played on turf.

“We play on so many stadiums and so many different situations, the surface doesn’t really affect us too much,” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said. “It (Albi) is a really cool stadium and we really like to come and play here.”

With numbers like that — especially on the offensive side — it’s hard to hate playing at a place that can showcase what a team can do best.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.