Super Bowl champion and likely Hall of Famer brings cameras to Yorkville’s Mars Wrigley factory

Super Bowl Champion Marshawn Lynch, a likely future Hall of Fame running back, brought his “Beast Mode” attitude with a December visit to the Yorkville Mars Wrigley factory to see how Skittles are made.

Lynch, who famously ate Skittles on the sidelines during NFL games, brought a camera crew to film an episode of ‘N Yo’ City that aired during the Thursday Night Football coverage of the Chicago Bears hosting the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 26. The Bears lost to Lynch’s former team 6-3.

Lynch was a star with the Seahawks when they won the Super Bowl in 2014.

When reached for comment, Gavin Kueber, the site director of Mars Wrigley in Yorkville, said he loved having the opportunity to treat such a superfan to their facilities.

“Giving Marshawn a behind-the-scenes look at how we make the rainbow was a day to remember,” Kueber said. “Along the tour, we showcased the different elements that go into the Skittles process, and he got to experience a taste test with some of our newest products. It was fun to have him here for the day, and he’s always welcome back to visit.”

The Yorkville site employs more than 300 workers and has long been a staple of the community.

Lynch said during the visit that the magic of the process reminded him of Wily Wonka’s chocolate factory.

Lynch’s love of Skittles became so popular during his stellar career that fans frequently threw Skittles onto the field after Lynch scored touchdowns. Mars even built Lynch a custom dispenser for his personal football locker.

In 2011, Lynch was bold enough to be fined $10,000 for wearing football cleats featuring a Skittles pattern.

At the Yorkville factory, Kueber and his team presented Lynch with a custom white lab coat with the name tag, “Marshawn Beast Mode Lynch.” Before entering the candy zone, Lynch traveled across the facility’s mechanical conveyor belt that sterilizes peoples’ shoes.

The Mars factory in Yorkville makes 55 tons of Skittles a day, which equals 2.5 million Skittles an hour.

During the tour, Lynch got to see how the team puts the little “S” on each Skittle and how they are colored and packaged as they go through tubes and travel across mechanical belts.

After the tour, Lynch posed for a photo with the team before making a power-run escape with a bunch of fresh bags of Skittles.