Eight was enough.
John Lynch, in his eighth straight year as a finalist, broke through Saturday night and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Now entering his fifth year as the 49ers’ general manager, Lynch made it to Canton for his 15-year career as a hard-hitting and leadership-oozing safety, having excelled for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1993-2003) and the Denver Broncos (2004-07) as a Stanford product.
He was a nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro.
Lynch’s induction was announced late in Saturday’s NFL Honors program, during which former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith won the Associated Press’ Comeback Player of the Year award for his return to the Washington lineup after a catastrophic leg injury. Smith received 49 of 50 votes, with the other going to the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger.
A year ago at this time, Lynch was named NFL Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America while presiding over an NFC Championship roster with coach Kyle Shanahan.
“Fortunately my mind is occupied and I have a lot of other duties, so I haven’t thought about it a whole lot, but I have thought it could be a very special weekend,” Lynch said a few days prior to missing last year’s final cut, before the 49ers’ lost in Super Bowl LIV in what wasn’t such a special weekend.
Both Lynch and Shanahan signed contract extensions prior to last season that lock that tandem in through 2024.
Also part of this year’s Hall of Fame class are first-year eligible inductees Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson, along with former Raiders coach Tom Flores and two Steelers greats, guard Alan Faneca and scout Bill Nunn.
Lynch’s playing career covered 224 games (191 starts), 1,059 tackles, 13 sacks, 26 interceptions, 16 forced fumbles, nine fumble recoveries, 100 passes defensed, and, countless punishing hits that balanced his heady leadership.
His final tackle came in a New England Patriots uniform, albeit unofficially because it came in a 2008 exhibition finale (against New York Giants quarterback David Carr on a 5-yard scramble).
Other defensive backs who were Hall of Fame finalists this year: Woodson (Raiders, Green Bay Packers 1998-2012), LeRoy Butler (Green Bay Packers, 1990-2001) and Ronde Barbers (Bucs, 1997-2012).
Only eight Pro Football Hall of Fame members were finalists more often than Lynch: Lynn Swann (14 times), Carl Eller (13), Paul Hornung (12), Jerry Kramer (11), Tom Mack (11), Willie Wood (10) and former 49ers running back John Henry Johnson (9).
Lynch became the eighth Hall of Famer to enter as an eight-time finalist, joining Ray Guy, Don Maynard, Art Monk, Andre Reed, Pete Rozelle, John Stallworth and Jack Youngblood.
