[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 3 (Thursday, January 8, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E42]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING DAVID ``NICK'' LYNCH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 8, 2009

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of Suitland High 
School head football coach David ``Nick'' Lynch, who was killed in a 
car accident last week, at the age of 43. Nick Lynch was one of the 
most respected football coaches in Maryland, leading the Suitland High 
team for 12 years and taking it to two state championships.
  More than his coaching success, though, Coach Lynch was set apart by 
his devotion to his players and outsized role in the Prince George's 
County community. As Suitland Principal Mark Fossett said, ``He's had 
an impact on so many people's lives--not only football players, but 
students in general. It wasn't like Nick was just the head coach of 
football. This is a devastating loss to our community, to our family.'' 
Many of his current and former players echoed that thought, speaking of 
Coach Lynch's commitment to shaping the lives of his players off the 
field, inviting them to church and meals, and acting as the caring 
authority figure that many of them had lacked. Keith Brown, one of 
Suitland's players, put it simply after Coach Lynch's memorial service: 
``That's my father.''
  At a service in which some mourners squeezed into stairways or sat in 
aisles, nearly 3,000 members of the Prince George's community gathered 
to honor Nick Lynch's impact on the lives of so many young men. Though 
Coach Lynch is gone, his influence will no doubt endure in all the 
lives he touched.

                          ____________________