The Case For John Lynch
January 29th, 2017
On Saturday morning, it begins.
JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman will saunter into a hotel ballroom in Houston with some 45 other Pro Football Hall of Fame voters, their egos and two subjective former players, to make his case for John Lynch to be enshrined in the Canton class of 2017.
The Custodian of Canton is ready with his sales pitch. But will his fellow voters have an open mind?
Perhaps in an effort to help Lynch (and eye-RAH!), good guy Peter Schrager of NFL Network pounded the coffee table on his weekday morning show, “Good Morning Football” (yes, with co-hosts Nate Burleson, Kyle Brandt and porn-glasses-wearing Kay Adams) to make the case for Lynch.
“My guy, if I am going to put him in there, John Lynch deserves to get into the Hall of Fame,” Schrager said. “This is a guy who played 15 years in the NFL at safety. Nine-time Pro Bowler. He’s got the Super Bowl ring. Beyond that, it’s beyond the longevity. It’s what he did at the safety position.
“I think this is more of a position thing. Only 11 safeties are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. … It really feels like a safety bias. To me, Lynch was the greatest of his generation. He’s in both the Broncos and the Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor.
“Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp are in the Hall of Fame. Tony Dungy, who never won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers, is in the Hall of Fame. But Lynch was the anchor! You can’t say, ‘Look, you can’t put all of those guys in.’ No, no, no. That is ridiculous. Put in the guys that are deserving. John Lynch is not only the best safety of his generation, but you put him in and then you can have Brian Dawkins, then you can have Ed Reed, and then you can have Troy Polamalu. Don’t slight John Lynch because Warren Sapp got in years ago. Who cares? You have a million Cowboys in the Hall of Fame.”
Schrager went on to make several more points about Lynch you can watch in the video linked above. One was, if the Hall of Fame voters (rightly) ding Terrell Owens for being a cancer, then Lynch should be buoyed for being such a good ambassador. Solid point.
Joe senses a growing rush to thrust Brian Dawkins ahead of Lynch, led by outhouse-admiring, airline-napping, steerage-flying, Yogi Berra-worshiping, urinal picture-taking, video game-playing, Taylor Swift-listening, pickpocket-thwarting, Bucs-uniform-frowning, Allie-LaForce-smitten, Big-Ten-Network-hating, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading, NPR-honk, filthy-hotel-staying, fight-instigating, barista-training Peter King of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, always a champion of the NFC East.
If that happens, it would be a crying shame.
January 29th, 2017 at 7:52 am
“On Saturday morning it Began” its Sunday.
January 29th, 2017 at 8:06 am
Next Saturday, R.O., it begins
January 29th, 2017 at 8:36 am
Exactly Joe. Ho the eff is Brian Dawkins? Some schlub from the Iggles for awhile? That’s cute.
When you say the phrase “strong safety” to people from Topeka or Seattle or Maine, the first name is always John Lynch.
How the heck is a guy synonymous with te position NOT a shoe in? This should have been done and settled years ago. It’s damn near a crime he’s not already in there.
January 29th, 2017 at 9:20 am
GREAT VIDEO!!!!!
GO LYNCH!!!!
January 29th, 2017 at 9:29 am
Man! Ty Cobb and Warren Sapp are certainly lucky that character, class and personality have ZERO bearing on the MLB and NFL Halls.
On the flip side…if they did…Lynch would be a lock. Lynch makes my argument against 87 and Tmax about lusting for aaholes for our team…as if being a mean arrogant human being is indicative of football skills.
Lynch was a FEROCIOUS hitter on the field…off the field he was a class act. I wish him the best. Again he’s a guy who is easy to cheer.
And aside from Sapp those SB Bucs were a great group of guys…DB55…Ronde…Alstott…Dunn…good guys that did us proud.
January 29th, 2017 at 9:41 am
So how many Super Bowl rings does Dawkins have? Zero, zip, zilch, 0.00. Haha
January 29th, 2017 at 9:47 am
R.O.:
Vote takes place Saturday.
January 29th, 2017 at 11:46 am
It’s his time. Lynch goes in. And did I hear Schrager say that Ronde is a first ballot Hall of Famer? I think he is!
January 29th, 2017 at 12:53 pm
Lynch should be in the Hall of Fame. There are many former players worthy of being there also. Expanding the number of inductees will not weaken the overall greatness of players already there. Notice I said players, not these non players who don’t belong there.
January 29th, 2017 at 1:02 pm
I think after Lynch and Barber, that will be it for this era of Bucs. (I would like to see Simeon Rice get in, but I doubt it will happen. He’ll probably get in the Bucs Ring Of Honor, but that’s it.)
January 29th, 2017 at 2:53 pm
Joe, your distaste for Peter King grows by adjectives.
January 29th, 2017 at 3:39 pm
THE DEFENSE WAS CALLED…..”THE LYNCH MOB”…..THAT SAYS IT ALL.
January 29th, 2017 at 8:34 pm
John lynch just got the SF GM job. 6 year deal
January 30th, 2017 at 4:19 am
I don’t see him as a HoF type player. Steve Atwater was just as vicious with 2 rings.