After a 15-season Pro Football Hall of Fame playing career, John Lynch stayed close to the sport he loved and became 49ers general manager in 2017.
From the NFL draft to free agency to training camp and everything in between, Lynch thoroughly enjoys his executive role. But of the 365 days in a year, there might be about 20 days that fall as exceptions to that.
"Game day sucks," Lynch said on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" on Thursday. "It's awful. There's not a damn thing you can do about it. That is really hard, it really is. I remember my first year doing this, I'd be up there and the cameras were on you a lot and I'd be pounding the table or whatnot, and my dad would say, 'Hey, don't let them see you sweat. You're going to have to learn to do that.'
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"But I'd become so accustomed to doing something on game day, and I can't do a damn thing. if someone gets hurt, you start calling guys the next week for tryouts or something. But I think what you come to know is that your job is 365 days a year, helping run an organization, helping lead an organization, bringing in the right people."
Lynch will enter his eighth season as general manager, and while he has yet to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to the Bay during his tenure with the organization, he has come mighty close.
The top executive confessed that he is a "pacer" during game days, anxiously walking back and forth on Sundays during the season. But there's another area he has turned to in his role where he hopes to further help the team.
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"Hay is in the barn come game day, but I can still be passionate and I live and die with these guys," Lynch said. "I've been through what these players have been through, so I respect the heck out of what they're trying to do, I know how hard it is.
"Really more than anything, I just pull for these guys and try to be there to support them and support our coaches. It's fun until that game kicks off and it doesn't get any easier knowing that there's nothing you can do come game day."
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