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Lynch, Edwards share bond By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH After bringing the reporter up to date on his life in Denver, Lynch’s demeanor turned more serious. His trademark smile, which is normally plastered to his face, had suddenly vanished. “So,” Lynch asked, “why are you down on my guy?” The reporter was one of many in the last few weeks who had been critical of Herm Edwards’ sudden departure to Kansas City with two years remaining on his contract with the New York Jets. And if you mess with Edwards, you’re messing with Lynch. See, back in 1996, Lynch was Edwards’ guy in Tampa Bay. It was no coincidence that Lynch’s playing time and numbers skyrocketed when Edwards took over as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach. Under Edwards’ tutelage, Lynch emerged as one of the most feared safeties in the league. “Coach Edwards, coach (Tony) Dungy and Monte Kiffin, they were the first people who not only believed I could be a player in this league, but a special player,” said Lynch, now in his second year with the Broncos. “I owe a lot of my success in my career to Herm.” If you wanted to call Lynch’s questioning of the reporter a “Godfather” moment, you’d be right — literally. Lynch and Edwards are so close, Edwards asked Lynch to be the godfather of his oldest son, Marcus. When Edwards left Tampa Bay for the Jets’ job, Marcus Edwards was a senior in high school. He stayed in Tampa for his first two years of college while playing football at South Florida. Through those two-plus years, Marcus practically lived at Lynch’s house. “I lived on campus, but I would always go over to his house and play with the kids,” Marcus Edwards said over the phone. “When Dad left, that was my family.” Over the years, Marcus, now 24, met many NFL players through his father, including former Chiefs Joe Montana, Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith and Dale Carter. But there was something different about Lynch that helped them become “tight,” as Marcus puts it. “I knew a lot of the Bucs players,” Marcus said. “But John was just a role model. I always looked at John as another father figure because of how he lives his life and putting his faith in the Lord.” As his godfather prepared this week in Denver for the opportunity to win his second Super Bowl, Marcus worked toward finishing his last semester at San Diego State, where he ended his football career as a wide receiver. He’s a sociology major taking three classes and working as a salesman at Cingular Wireless on the side. “To be honest,” Marcus said of his father and godfather, “they both just want me to graduate.” Marcus will be pulling hard for Lynch this weekend and hopefully two weeks later in the Super Bowl. But what will happen next year, when father and godfather will meet twice on the field? “When my dad got the Chiefs job, that’s what I was
thinking about,” Marcus said, laughing. “We’re
going to have to play John twice. I want John to play well,
but obviously, since my dad is coach, I hope he wins.”
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J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell) |
