MOBILE, Ala. — The 100 or so players at the Senior Bowl this week come from various backgrounds, have various skill sets and are here trying to put themselves on the right side of the sliding signing-bonus scale that comes with being selected in April's NFL Draft.
It's fair to say that Penn State cornerback D'Anton Lynn is the only Senior Bowl player who already has collected a paycheck from an NFL organization.
It's also fair to say he earned it.
When Lynn was just finishing high school, his father, Anthony, was the running backs coach for the Cleveland Browns. D'Anton came to Cleveland to spend time with his father, and part of that time overlapped with the Browns' preseason preparations. Like most wide-eyed kids who loved football, D'Anton wanted to spend as much time as possible at the Browns' training complex.
His father wanted him to get the most out of it, so Anthony Lynn signed up his son for landscaping duty.
"After minicamp was over, I stayed in Cleveland about two weeks," D'Anton Lynn said. "I helped mulch the whole entire facility. I pretty much did everything. He told (the Browns) to pay me a little for my work, but he definitely wanted me just to work for the sake of working.
"I don't remember exactly how much (money) I made or what I was supposed to make. I just know it wasn't as much as it was supposed to be. My dad wanted me to get paid but not that much. I guess it was one of those lessons. He was big on those."
Asked about his son's journey from growing up around the NFL to performing in front of almost every general manager and head coach in the league this week, Anthony Lynn laughed and said, "He's come a long way from working the grounds crew with the Browns, hasn't he?"
Anthony Lynn — now the running backs coach for the New York Jets — said there was "no negotiation" when he told D'Anton he was going to occupy his time with the Browns on the grounds crew and not hanging out in his father's office.
"Most kids want to just hang out in the locker room, maybe be a ball boy, act like they're one of the guys," Anthony Lynn said. "He was going out there with a shovel."
Now that D'Anton is on the cusp of his own NFL career — he's playing cornerback for the North team this week — his dad thinks his son learned from his time in the mulch.
"He has a strong work ethic," Anthony Lynn said. "Anything I've ever wanted to nitpick or get him on about as far as being a football player, I kind of take a step back and know that he's never minded working. His coaches tell me that a lot, and that makes me proud. That makes me think he has a chance."
D'Anton Lynn played his final three seasons of high school football in Celina, Texas. In his senior year, he led Celina to a 16-0 record and a Class 3A state title. He was a three-year starter at Penn State, played multiple positions in the secondary and had four interceptions — three in his junior season.
To the surprise of no one who knows his background, D'Anton Lynn played a lot like a coach on the field. Tom Bradley, his position coach who eventually took over as Penn State's head coach last season, called Lynn "the heart and soul of the secondary."
Lynn's NFL Draft résumé includes good genes and a better work ethic.
"It is different watching your kid out there competing at the Senior Bowl, but it's exciting," Anthony Lynn said. "I'm proud. He's worked hard to get here, and he's living a dream right now.
"He still has to get to the next step of his dream, and he knows how much work he has to do. A lot of kids have the ability to make it, but the percentage who do make it are so small. That's why it's so important to give it your best shot but always have something to fall back on. If he got anything from me, I hope it's that."
Anthony Lynn starred as a running back at Texas Tech and played for the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers from 1993-99, winning two Super Bowl rings with the Broncos. He coached with the Jaguars and Cowboys before spending two years (2007-08) with the Browns and the past three with the Jets.
"Being the son of an NFL player and an NFL coach, it does come with pressure," D'Anton Lynn said. "But you either rise with pressure or you wilt. I've dealt with it my entire life. I'm uncomfortable if I don't have pressure.
"How much work it takes off the football field to make it in the NFL is one thing my dad always told me. I haven't forgotten that."
