Hall of Fame 2021: John Lynch's journey to Canton spoke into existence by legendary coach
The loudest and probably best knock on the door John Lynch ever heard can be traced back to a baseball diamond.
The nine-time Pro Bowler will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 8 as part of the 2021 class. He may have never gotten there without a phone call from Jane Walsh asking if her husband Bill, who coached him at Stanford, could meet with him.
Pitching in the New York-Penn League for the Erie Sailors in the Florida Marlins farm system, Lynch was perfectly content with a career in baseball.
“(Bill Walsh) said I understand the opportunity you have in baseball, but I believe that you can be an All-Pro safety in the NFL,” Lynch said. “It took all my courage to say, 'With all due respect Coach Walsh, I played one year at safety and played half the snaps, what leads you to believe that I could do that?'
“He went through and made a tape. It was a play that I had made and a play Ronnie Lott had made the previous year and then a play I made on a sack and a play Ronnie made. He spoke this into existence.”
He was drafted in the third round by Tampa Bay in 1993 and what followed was an incredible 15-year career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos.
The eight-time Hall finalist and current San Francisco 49ers general manager made 90 or more tackles nine times and intercepted 26 passes during his career.
Lynch, 49, was at the forefront of one of the best defenses in NFL history for Tampa Bay in 2003 when the Buccaneers beat the Oakland Raiders 48-21 to win the Super Bowl.
His nine Pro Bowl seasons tie him with Brian Dawkins and Ed Reed for the second most by a safety in NFL history. Only Ken Houston (12) has more. Dawkins, Reed, Houston along with Steve Atwater and Troy Polamalu, who both had eight Pro Bowl seasons, are all in the Hall.
Not bad for a former quarterback at Stanford, who switched to safety his junior season at the behest of Dennis Green and Walsh.
“I thought I always had great perspective that, you know what, I gave it all I had on the field and whether I made it or not, it wouldn’t matter,” Lynch told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s not going to change my life. But, my gosh, this feels life-changing right now. That’s unbelievable.”