Nov 14th 2008 2:20PM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Broncos, Buccaneers, AFC West, NFC SouthLess than a month ago it looked like John Lynch might be part of the Patriots’ plan to deal with the loss of Rodney Harrison. Nothing ever came of it, however, and now Lynch is ending any further speculation about a return to the NFL. He’ll hold a press conference on Monday and officially announce his retirement.

In an interesting twist on the NFL habit of players signing one-day contracts to retire with “their” team, Lynch’s announcement will be attended by officials of both the Buccaneers and the Broncos. Lynch played with Tampa from 1993-2003 and helped them win their only Super Bowl title in 2002. He was a key player on Denver’s defense for the last four seasons, but age and injuries caught up with him.

Lynch made nine Pro Bowls and is certainly going to be in Canton before much longer. That will make two Halls of Fame that Lynch will be associated with. His 1992 Erie Sailors jersey is in Cooperstown because Lynch threw the first pitch in the history of the Florida Marlins organization. He was a second-round pick that year, but gave up baseball to rattle spines around the NFL. That decision worked out well for Lynch.