dragondawg
08-24-2007, 06:07 PM
John Lynch can go hours on the practice field without thinking about the number of years that show up on his football card. That only two safeties in the last quarter-century have spent more time playing the demanding position at a pro level. Or the fact that the sherbet orange and fire-engine red colors in which he began his professional career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have long since passed from reviled monstrosity to retro chic.
It’s easy to not think about such matters. There’s so much to process in a given on-field moment, from synthesizing and applying what he learned in the previous day’s tape study to mentally preparing for a collision with a 230-pound bowling ball named Travis Henry perched in the opposing backfield. Then Lynch glances at Keith Burns in coaching garb, working as one of the Broncos’ newest coaches, as a special-teams assistant who is just as demanding of the players under his charge as he was when he was a team captain as a player.
Burns and Lynch shared a mere two years together as teammates, and were only in the same starting lineup once – for a regularseason- ending game in Lynch’s home area of San Diego on New Year’s Eve 2005. But Burns came into the league a year after Lynch, and played 13 seasons of his own – a lengthy NFL career by almost any standard except the one established by Lynch.
"When the guys that are coaching you have less years in the league than you, it starts getting a little scary,” Lynch admitted with a knowing smile.
Playing successfully into the 15th year as a defensive player isn’t unprecedented, but it is rare — and remarkable. Yet even at a point in his career where he knows there are far fewer playing days ahead than behind, it seems as though Lynch is starting his career over again. With a new offseason training regimen, a new defensive scheme and another Pro Bowl cornerback with whom to share the secondary, Lynch seems like more than just the league’s most decorated active safety. Lynch seems like more than just a safety looking to return to the Super Bowl after five years away.
He seems like a man and a player reborn.
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=7083
It’s easy to not think about such matters. There’s so much to process in a given on-field moment, from synthesizing and applying what he learned in the previous day’s tape study to mentally preparing for a collision with a 230-pound bowling ball named Travis Henry perched in the opposing backfield. Then Lynch glances at Keith Burns in coaching garb, working as one of the Broncos’ newest coaches, as a special-teams assistant who is just as demanding of the players under his charge as he was when he was a team captain as a player.
Burns and Lynch shared a mere two years together as teammates, and were only in the same starting lineup once – for a regularseason- ending game in Lynch’s home area of San Diego on New Year’s Eve 2005. But Burns came into the league a year after Lynch, and played 13 seasons of his own – a lengthy NFL career by almost any standard except the one established by Lynch.
"When the guys that are coaching you have less years in the league than you, it starts getting a little scary,” Lynch admitted with a knowing smile.
Playing successfully into the 15th year as a defensive player isn’t unprecedented, but it is rare — and remarkable. Yet even at a point in his career where he knows there are far fewer playing days ahead than behind, it seems as though Lynch is starting his career over again. With a new offseason training regimen, a new defensive scheme and another Pro Bowl cornerback with whom to share the secondary, Lynch seems like more than just the league’s most decorated active safety. Lynch seems like more than just a safety looking to return to the Super Bowl after five years away.
He seems like a man and a player reborn.
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=7083