On the eve of what figured to be among his most gratifying days, John Lynch was getting ready for bed when he got a phone call.
The cement floors inside Invesco Field at Mile High were flooded with 2 inches of water. Ordinarily, the heavy rain Monday night would not have been a major inconvenience, as the Broncos remain four months away from the preseason.
But because the John Lynch Foundation was to culminate a year’s worth of charitable work the next day with an enormous lunch banquet for local middle school and high school student athletes, the flooding spelled a sleepless night of anxiety for the Broncos’ star safety.
Thanks to water vacs and several of the foundation’s closest friends, the ninth annual John Lynch Salutes the Stars went off on time, without a glitch and with a record 800 people in attendance today, double last year’s crowd.
“It’s a grind to put it on, but these kids are deserving,” Lynch said. “This is an effort to reward the young leaders of our community who are doing the right things because so often the focus is on kids doing things wrong.”
The Broncos begin their off-season workout programs Wednesday with the start of quarterback camp at their Dove Valley headquarters, but today at Invesco, football gave way to philanthropy.
Two of the Broncos’ most distinguished humanitarians – Domonique Foxworth and Jay Cutler – helped Lynch present the awards, and starting strong safety Nick Ferguson was the keynote speaker.
“I wanted to help support John,” Cutler said. “He’s a true role model for the community.”
The Broncos’ second-year quarterback, Cutler has quickly followed Lynch’s off-field lead as he’s set up his own charitable foundation that primarily benefits after-school programs, including those attempting to quell teen violence. Cutler’s foundation is gearing up for its charitable golf tournament June 11 at The Club of Pradera in Parker.
“We’ve had great success so far – Denver’s really shown up and come together and donated a lot of money,” Cutler said.
Lynch’s foundation is no easy mark. Almost every major award winner today was not only a superior athlete but carried a grade-point average of at least 4.0.
The highlight of the event was the four-year college scholarships, at $5,000 a year, that the Lynch Foundation presented to five high school seniors: Heather McCaffrey of George Washington; Smoky Hill’s Anne Perizzolo; Cherokee Trail’s Mark Brundage; Evergreen’s Armond Ismaili; and Mountain Vista’s Matt Tuten, son of Broncos’ strength-and-conditioning coach Rich Tuten.
Lynch said he graded Matt Tuten tougher than the other candidates but ultimately couldn’t deny a student athlete who carried a 4.3 grade-point average, actively participates in Meals on Wheels, starred in football and was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania.
The middle school most valuable student athletes were Anna Nicole Funkhauser (Euclid) and Spencer Borison (Morey). The high school student-athlete winners were Horizon’s Hannah Tuomi and Columbine’s C.J. Gillman.
Gillman’s father, Chuck Gillman of Columbine and Heritage High School, and Lisa Knafelc of Euclid Middle School were named teacher/coach of the year.
Also honored were three disabled athletes: Arapahoe’s Alek Nyman, South High School’s Brenna Sala and Longmont/Skyline’s Jordan Freeman.
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
