Lynch Comes Home to Tampa Bay

By JC De La Torre

One of the greatest players in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history and one of the integral parts of the 2002 Super Bowl Champion squad, Strong Safety John Lynch, is returning to One Buc Palace to announce his retirement from football. He currently ranks fifth all-time in franchise history with 973 tackles and finishes his career with 13 sacks and 26 interceptions and made the Pro Bowl nine times (five with Tampa Bay).

Buccaneer fans remember Lynch not only as a ferocious hitter but one of the leaders of the great Buccaneer defenses of the Tony Dungy era. In fact, many Buc fans still have hostility toward the Buccaneer front office (namely Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden) for cutting Lynch after the 2003 season.

Lynch likely will be honored at a future Bucs game and is a good candidate to be added to the Buccaneers Ring of Honor that will be unveiled in 2009.

As a long-time fan of the Bucs, I'd like to say, "Welcome Home, #47!"