I Like John Lynch. I Am Disappointed in John Lynch

I am disappointed in John Lynch, but I still admire him.

Why the disappointment?

After Kyle Juszczyk wrote on X a nasty, personal, almost certainly homophobic attack on my son Grant, Lynch did nothing. It is his job to do something, and he knows that. Understand, I am not defending Grant. He doesn’t need me for that. I am not discussing Juszczyk – I already discussed him. I am writing about John Lynch’s behavior, Lynch the man who sets the moral tone for the 49ers, Lynch the face of the organization.

When Javon Kinlaw acted aggressively toward Grant with no provocation, Lynch, the good man that he is, called Kinlaw and Grant into his office and mediated a truce between the two of them. They shook hands. Matt Maiocco, God love him, attended the meeting to protect Grant’s interests.

I am eternally grateful to Lynch for what he did that day, but his mediation didn’t surprise me. It’s what I expect from a man of character, and I might add, from a Stanford graduate. At Stanford we learned to behave correctly and were taught the highest standard of comportment.

This is what Lynch should have done after Juszczyk posted that tweet.

He should have told Juice to take it down. He should have told his player writings of that nature do not meet the 49ers standard of how a person in their employ acts.

He should have told Juice to approach Grant in the locker room and put the issue behind them. An apology would have been a stand-up thing to do, but not essential. A simple acknowledgement that Juice and Grant could do business together with no hard feelings would have been sufficient.

Bill Walsh, who had great respect for the media – Ira Miller and I broke the news of Bill’s fatal illness at Bill’s request – well, Bill would have insisted Juice face Grant in a conciliatory way.

Lynch knows this because Lynch played for Walsh at Stanford. Lynch understands the standard Walsh embodied at Stanford and the 49ers.

At the very least, Lynch should have talked to his player, told him he had acted badly, and then Lynch should have emailed or texted Grant and told him he had taken care of things. That would have been wonderful. Lynch did none of the above.

I knew Lynch when he played for Stanford, was there when the Cardinal beat Notre Dame in South Bend and Lynch was an important reason Stanford won. I am friends with the defensive coordinator who coached Lynch his final season at Stanford – John knows this. The defensive coordinator tells me it was an honor to coach Lynch. He doesn’t only mean Lynch was a great player. He means Lynch is a great guy. I agree. John Lynch is a great guy.

But he let himself down by not doing the right thing between Grant and Juszczyk. I am disappointed in him.