A side of Lynch the world does not see
Cameron Lynch walked into the room beaming. It was obvious his personality brought out new energy to the otherwise compact, dimly lit classroom. The Energy Captain, as coined by his peers, was constantly swiveling in his chair during his interview, trying to ask the questions, and breaking out a smile that seemed to light up the classroom.
But there is more to Lynch that you can’t see with the naked eye.
An NFL free agent, Lynch was good at hiding the effect of the thought of not making it on an NFL team ever again. However, he did admit that the situation had taken a toll on him.
“My energy’s always on ten… But like not knowing where I’m going to be next year that kinda made me an eight out of ten and made me a little sad,” Lynch said.
Despite the fact that Lynch is going through a tough time, he is still describes himself as being an eight out of ten. That is impressive since one would think that, with their future career on the line, they would be lower on the scale. Lynch has a trick though. The bracelet on his right arm that reads ‘me’ constantly reminds him to stay optimistic.
“So in this bracelet, I think now I’m going to look at this like, believe in me, believe in you, you can do it type thing,” Lynch said.
Bracelets are not the only way Lynch is always able to keep a positive mindset during tough times. Something most people might not know about Lynch is his love for anime, especially Dragon Ball Z. Interestingly, Lynch gains a lot of motivation from anime that has a huge effect on his daily life.
“Naruto, he was an outcast. He wasn’t great at school. He wasn’t great at a lot of things. But one thing was that he had faith in himself and that’s the one thing about me… like my mindset was, I’m going to get there somehow someway just cause I have an unwavering belief in myself just like Naruto just like these animes,” Lynch said.
While Lynch embodies the message of Naruto today, he only started gaining motivation from it because of his college friend Dan Anyaegbunam. Going from California to college at Syracuse, Lynch felt isolated on the east coast. So much so that, at one point, Lynch was even ready to transfer from Syracuse.
“I was like man forget this. I’m not starting I wanna go, I want to leave, it’s snowing all the time. I’m far from home I want to leave,” Lynch said.
If not for Anyaegbunam, Lynch would have had a different story. Anyaegbunam and Lynch found a commonality in anime in their freshman year at Syracuse. Anime was what helped Lynch through his tough times at college because Anyaegbunam helped him connect anime to reality. Additionally, Anyaegbunam was also credited with helping Lynch step out of his comfort zone and have a better time at Syracuse.
“He was like, look, like find other ways to, to make you happy. Like you’re good at school, you’re great at school, you’re great at football, but find other ways to dive into things,” Lynch said.
Just as he does with everything else, Lynch made the best of his time at Syracuse. Despite playing football, Lynch was able to find time for his other passion: sportscasting. Lynch found time to create a show called Cam’s Cam where he interviewed his teammates on the Syracuse football team.
While he has not yet reached his goal of becoming a successful sportscaster, Lynch does aspire to change the field for the better.
“A lot of times when it comes to these media outlets the people aren’t looking out for the players’ best interests. So I want to change that dialogue sooner or later … I want to make these interviews and this relationship between media and players more personable by being a player or someone who played interviewing these guys in the future,” Lynch said.
Lynch aspires to follow in the footsteps of former NFL defensive end Michael Strahan and NBC sportscaster Mike Tirico when it comes to sportscasting. Unsurprisingly, however, he wants to create his own path and be himself. A simple bracelet on his right arm reminds him to do so.
