What John Lynch is Really Like

Did a podcast Wednesday with my dad talking about some of the key personalities on the 49ers. Here is John Lynch.

John Lynch is a winner.

He’s other things, too. He’s massively intelligent -- he went to Stanford. And he’s charming and sophisticated and easy-going and not complicated. He’s a Californian who enjoys life with a smile.

Lynch also is down to earth. If he makes eye contact with you, he approaches you and shakes your hand. Asks you how you’re doing. Listens. When he talks to me, he asks about my father, Lowell Cohn, a former sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and Santa Rosa Press Democrat who covered Lynch when Lynch was an undergrad at Stanford. I deeply appreciate that Lynch asks about my dad. Lynch is a man of honor.

But mostly he’s a winner.

Lynch was a big-deal baseball player, a pitcher. The Marlins took him in the second round of the 1992 Major League Baseball draft, and Bill Walsh had to convince Lynch to stick with football. Walsh was Stanford’s head coach from 1992 to 1994. Walsh knew what he was talking about.

Lynch originally played quarterback at Stanford. Walsh convinced Lynch to move to safety. And then Lynch became the best player at Stanford and one of the greatest professional safeties of all time. He’s a finalist for the Hall of Fame every year. Winner.

Had Lynch accomplished nothing else in his life, he still would be a giant success. But after he retired, he became a broadcaster for Fox, and a good one. He was a color commentator. Think John Madden. All of Lynch’s intelligence and charm shined through. He was a natural.

Then he took on his biggest challenge yet -- he became the 49ers’ general manager. He had no scouting experience or front-office experience, and some people around the league felt he hadn’t earned the job or paid his dues. Lots of successful players before him have failed as general managers.

But Lynch doesn’t fail. In just three years, he has transformed the 49ers’ roster from one of the league’s worst to one of the league’s best.

A winner in every stage of his career.