On the first day of February in 2014, 17 former NFL greats waited to hear if their names would be called for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For the first time, John Lynch was among that group, the best of the best, the cream skimmed from more than 100 initial nominees.
Four years later, Lynch is in that group again, a finalist for the Hall of Fame's Class of 2018. The group around him, however has changed. In 2014, Lynch shared the ballot with teammate Derrick Brooks along with 15 others, including Walter Jones, Andre Reed and Aeneas Williams.