NFL coach Lynn fulfills promise to mom, graduates on Mother's Day weekend
Anthony Lynn is a man of his word.
No matter how long it takes.
The Los Angeles Chargers’ head coach kept a promise to his mother Saturday by receiving his college degree — 25 years after leaving the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
We see you, Coach! 🎓👏 pic.twitter.com/mOZH0GpPO8
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 12, 2018
Lynn’s good friend Dave Szott, who serves as the Chargers’ team chaplain, helped inspire him to do so.
Szott, a former All-Pro offensive guard for the Kansas City Chiefs, went back to school 15 years after he retired to earn his degree. It was his influence that persuaded Lynn to follow suit.
After being named the Chargers’ head coach in January 2017, Lynn began the process of finishing up his last six hours to graduate.
Originally, he thought this weekend would take a totally different form, as he told the Los Angeles Times: He planned to skip the graduation ceremony.
“I don’t think anybody even knew I was back in school,” Lynn said. “That’s how I liked it. It’s how I wanted it. I just wanted my papers in the mail. FedEx it to me. That’s how I wanted to go about this.”
But it wasn’t that simple, he said via ESPN.
“When I told my counselor, when I told her what my plans were, she’d just assumed that I was walking the whole time,” Lynn said. “I never assumed I was walking. The disappointment on her face when I told her I wasn’t coming, it was tough. I thought about it. She made me rethink it. I decided to walk, because if it could inspire one person, then it’s worth it.”
Along with the inspiration, he did his mother proud — and on Mother’s Day weekend.
“I was the first person in my family to go to [college], and my mother sat there and watched my son graduate, watched my daughter graduate,” Lynn said. “And I just think she’s going to enjoy watching her son graduate.”
Lynn originally attended Texas Tech, and the Red Raiders celebrated his accomplishment as well.
✅ 1,972 yards & 20 TDs as a Red Raider
✅ First Red Raider to become a @NFL Head CoachAnd now…
✅ College Graduate
Congrats Anthony Lynn from your #TexasTech family!
📰➡️: https://t.co/3Tce8qbrwH #WreckEm #RedRaidersInTheNFL pic.twitter.com/QkgTohbTQA
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) May 12, 2018
When Anthony Lynn preaches the importance of education, as he told ESPN, he can say he walked the walk.
“Football has always been my No. 1 priority,” Lynn said. “Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad. But I chose football over education, and I kind of did that a few years later when I had a chance to go back; I chose football again over education.
“And so at this time, I thought at some point, no more excuses — just go back and get it done.”
We all know that the main goal of going to college is to put yourself in position to get a good job.
Lynn has that, but now his team — and more importantly his family — will know that he’s a man of his word.
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