John Lynch will have to continue waiting to hear his name called for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The former hard-hitting NFL safety has been notified that he will not be among the Class of 2019, according to Mike Klis of 9News in Denver.
Sources: Steve Atwater and John Lynch have been notified they did not get elected into HOF. Lynch a finalist for a sixth consecutive year. Atwater a finalist for second time. #9sports
— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) February 2, 2019
Lynch was among the 15-player finalists for the sixth-straight year. He played safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1993 until 2003 and then for the Denver Broncos from 2004 until 2007. Lynch was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection throughout his 15-year NFL career. During that time, he registered 1,051 combined tackles, 26 interceptions, 13 sacks, and 16 forced fumbles, according to ESPN.
Following his retirement as a player, Lynch entered the FOX broadcast booth as a color commentator for NFL games from 2008 through 2016. During that final year with FOX, he was inducted into both the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor.
Lynch recently shared with Ian Rapoport of NFL Network what it would mean to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"Would it change my life? Probably not," Lynch admitted. "But it sure would be nice. I've had experience — this is my sixth year — being a finalist, so that's incredibly humbling.
"I just ran into Steve Atwater outside here (in Mobile, Alabama, where the 49ers were for the Senior Bowl), a good friend of mine, a guy I admired playing my same position. So every time you're on that final 15, and there's a guy like that, you say, 'You know what? I did alright.'
"Being a part of that club, they kind of tease you every year, and I'm never going to complain about it. But I've got buddies that are in that I've played with, (Derrick) Brooks and (Warren) Sapp, those guys. This club is a special one. It would be incredible, and I think it would be as fun for my family, for my kids, as anything."
The 49ers hired Lynch in January of 2017 to be the team's general manager. Head coach Kyle Shanahan made a strong case in November for Lynch to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"He was as physical a presence as there was in the league, at the time," Shanahan said during a KNBR interview. "I don't know how many people are in two Ring of Honors in two different stadiums.
"He's in there at Tampa Bay, which everyone knows he won a Super Bowl and played at a very high level on one of the best defenses of all time the year they won the Super Bowl. They were a top defense every other year he was there.
"Then he goes to Denver, and they get one game away from the Super Bowl. This is in the last, I want to say three or four years of his career where people thought he was done. All he did was go there and go to the Pro Bowl every single year he played. He got them to a 13-3 team where they lost in the AFC Championship Game to the Steelers and ended up finishing his career there in the Ring of Honor.
"To be that big of a deal in two different places, have the numbers to go with it, with the recognition of the Pro Bowls and the Super Bowl, I don't see why it's a hard decision, and I think it's just a matter of time for him."
