On Tuesday, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch's name was among the 15 modern-era finalists announced for the 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. Lynch played free safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1993 until 2003 and then for the Denver Broncos from 2004 until 2007. He was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection over the course of his 15-year NFL career.
Lynch has been named a finalist five times and, last year, was among the top 10 finalists as determined by the selection committee. Only four to seven individuals will be selected to the Class of 2018, which will be announced the day before Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis.
Lynch joined NFL Network following the announcement of the finalists and shared his thoughts on the latest honor.
"It's always tremendously humbling," Lynch told NFL Network's Steve Wyche. "All I have to do each year, it's been the last five, is look at the list, the other guys I'm with, and these are the guys I revered and respected. And so when you're mentioned with these other names, it's just an incredibly humbling moment each and every year.
"Is it tough (not being a final selection in the past)? Sure, but not a whole lot I can do about it, so I think you just try to enjoy the process and hope. It seems like each year it trends in the right direction in terms of advancing a little bit further and hopefully this year will be the year."
John Lynch is 'proud' of impacting the evolution of the safety position
Lynch is proud of what he accomplished as an NFL safety. He earned a great deal of respect around the league, and that continued even after retirement. That regard helped Lynch flourish as a color commentator for NFL games on FOX and now as the general manager for San Francisco.
"I do know that I took a lot of pride in what I did, and it was important for me to be special, and to be a special player that impacted every game I played in," Lynch continued. "I think that's one thing I'm proud of. I played on what I think is one of the great defenses in the history of our league in Tampa and we did it for a long time. We won a championship. And I think it was one of the featured positions in that defense."
Lynch had no front office experience when hired by the 49ers in January of 2017. The roster that he and head coach Kyle Shanahan built last year started the season by losing nine consecutive games. However, the 49ers finished as one of the hotter teams in the NFL and went on to win six of their final seven games, including three consecutive wins against playoff teams (Titans, Jaguars, Rams).