James Robert Lynch (August 28, 1945 – July 21, 2022) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. Lynch played college football for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

, where he was named an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and won the

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best al ...

in 1966. Lynch is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Lynch went on to play for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

of the American Football League (AFL) and

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for 11 seasons. He was an AFL All-Star in 1968 and a member of the Super Bowl IV championship team.

Early life

Lynch was born in Lima, Ohio. He graduated from

Lima Central Catholic High School Lima Central Catholic High School (LCC) is a private parochial school in Lima, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo. Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships * Boys Golf - 2002,2003,2005 * Bo ...

in 1963. Lynch played for the football and basketball teams.

College career

Lynch played college football at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

. Leading the

Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Divisi ...

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

with 108 in 1965 and 106 in 1966, he was the defensive captain of the national champion 1966 Irish team. He received the

as the nation's best college football player in 1966. He was also a unanimous

n selection that year.

Professional career

The

selected Lynch in the second round of the

1967 NFL/AFL draft The 1967 National Football League draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft with the AFL, part of the AFL–NFL merger agreement of June 1966. This draft was delayed as new guide ...

. From 1967 to 1977, Lynch played for the Chiefs as a right outside linebacker, playing alongside

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Willie Lanier Willie Edward Lanier (born August 21, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a middle linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1967 through 1977. He won postseason honors for eight consecutive years, making the Amer ...

and left outside linebacker

Bobby Bell Bobby Lee Bell Sr. (born June 17, 1940) is an American former professional football player who played as an outside linebacker and defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the College Football ...

, both

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

rs. These linebackers were important elements in the Chiefs' defense in their 1969 championship season, and led the defense in the Chiefs' first Super Bowl victory three years later in their first AFL-NFL World Championship (Super Bowl IV). Retiring at the end of the 1977 season, Lynch finished his career with 18 sacks, 17

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s and 14 fumble recoveries. He also scored one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

Honors

Lynch was selected to play in the 1968 AFL All-Star Game. In 1988, Lynch was inducted as an inaugural member into the Lima Central Catholic Hall of Fame for athletic achievement. In 1990, Lynch was inducted into the Chiefs' Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2006, Lynch was interviewed for the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...

documentary '' America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions'' chronicling the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs AFL and World Championship season.

Personal life

Lynch and his wife had three children. His older brother, Tom, was a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

and captain for the 1963 Navy football team. Lynch died on July 21, 2022, at the age of 76.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Jim 1945 births 2022 deaths All-American college football players American Football League All-Star players American Football League players American football linebackers College Football Hall of Fame inductees Kansas City Chiefs players Maxwell Award winners Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Players of American football from Ohio Sportspeople from Lima, Ohio