John Lynch
Football great JOHN LYNCH, one of the most feared tacklers in National Football League history, will be among the new inductees into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.
The list of inductees also includes BREVIN KNIGHT (basketball), RICK LUNDBLADE (baseball), TRACYE LAWYER (track and field; soccer), MIKE LAMBERT (men’s volleyball), CATHERINE FOX (women’s swimming and diving), LILIA OSTERLOH (women’s tennis) and NICK BRAVIN (fencing).
Lynch was a first team All-Pac-10 selection and earned second team All-America honors in 1992 after helping Stanford to a 10-3 record and a victory over Penn State in the Blockbuster Bowl. Originally recruited to Stanford as a quarterback, Lynch transitioned to safety prior to the start of the 1991 season and immediately moved into the starting lineup. He blossomed into one of the top defensive backs in the nation as a senior in 1992, earning second team All-America marks after leading the Cardinal in total tackles with 76, as Stanford finished the season ranked ninth nationally under the late head coach Bill Walsh.
A third-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1993, Lynch played 15 seasons in the NFL with the Buccaneers (1993-2003) and Denver Broncos (2004-07). A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, Lynch earned a Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII. He was ranked as the #10 most feared tackler in NFL history in a production by NFL Films for the NFL Network.
An outstanding two-sport athlete, Lynch also played baseball at Stanford. He was a member of Stanford’s 1990 College World Series team as a designated hitter and pitcher. His first collegiate at bat resulted in a two-run home run that caromed off the Sunken Diamond scoreboard in a Jan. 31 game against USF. He was drafted as a pitcher by the Florida Marlins in the second round (66th overall) of the 1992 amateur draft. Lynch played two seasons in the minor leagues with the Erie Sailors and the Kane County Cougars before turning full time to football.
Read the full press release from Stanford Athletics.