Manning, Lynch share stories before Hall of Fame induction

Hall of Fame speeches are only six to eight minutes long, so there's not a lot of time for stories. With that in mind there was a round table discussion with the Hall of Fame class of 2021, and Peyton Manning told a humorous story about John Lynch trying to recruit him to play for the Denver Broncos. 

"It truly was a shock. (It was) kind of a culture shock. It took me a while to see a different color jersey when I was getting dressed before a game, Manning said. "John played a big role in that, John was living in Denver at the time and was part of the recruiting process. Hey come to Denver, I live here, we will hang out, I sign with Denver and a year later he moves to San Diego. You know that's what recruiters do right, they tell what they got to tell you."

Lynch reflected on his journey to Denver.

"At a Pro Bowl one year, we had gone to another island, I playing in the sand with my kids and I look up and there's Mike Shanahan. We ended up spending some good time. Just so happened the next year I'm leaving Tampa and you know he said we'd love to have you. He made a great and real compelling argument for why I should come to Denver. Denver will always a special place in my heart."

Manning and Lynch were later inducted into the Hall of Fame. Along with Steve Atwater, the Broncos added three new members to the Hall of Fame.