ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—John Lynch expressed but one regret regarding his time with the Broncos, and no, it wasn’t about his sudden departure from Denver this summer, when he decided he couldn’t be a locker room leader if he wasn’t in the starting lineup.
“I expected to win a championship, I really did,” Lynch said Monday via conference call from Tampa, Fla., where he announced his retirement.
The nine-time Pro Bowler was coming off a neck injury in 2003 when he signed with the Broncos, where he had four more Pro Bowl seasons but failed to win a ring to match the one he won with the Buccaneers.
“I really thought we could win a championship. That’s my only regret is that we didn’t get that done.”
Lynch, 37, waffled over retirement last winter before Broncos owner Pat Bowlen talked him into signing a cut-rate contract for 2008 to be a leader for a young team. A week later, however, the Broncos signed veteran free safeties Marlon McCree and Marquand Manuel.
Relegated to spot duty for the first time, Lynch thought he still had more to offer. And just a few practices into camp, he asked for his release, then signed with New England, which cut him two weeks later.
“I always knew the way it felt and the way I approached each season, and something was different this time,” Lynch said. “Some people asked, ‘Well, do you regret having gone through the camp?’ I don’t think so. I confirmed in my heart that it was time to be done.”
Lynch felt so strongly about the relationships he built with both the Broncos and Buccaneers that he decided against stepping down in the colors of either team. He and his family still live in Denver.
Now, Lynch plans to do some television work, hit the ski slopes and wait for others to decide his legacy.
“In terms of what my chances are (for the Hall of Fame), I don’t know. Herm Edwards used to say that every time you go on that field, autograph your performance, and I tried to do that for 15 years, and if it’s good enough, it’s good enough,” Lynch said.
Coach Mike Shanahan, for one, said Lynch has nothing to worry about.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been around a guy that was more of a pro than John,” Shanahan said. “He did everything you wanted him to do on the field. He did everything you wanted him to do off the field. He was like a coach in the locker room. They don’t come around very often, and that’s why I believe he’ll be in the Hall of Fame.”
Lynch said he’s still adjusting to life without football. Struggling with retirement when the season started, he took solace in something his wife, Linda, told him: “You’re going to love it 10 years from now. You’re always going to love it.”
“Believe me,” Lynch said, “I wish I could play forever.”
