Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s NFL Impact Started in…

And that first day in the booth, tracking stats and confirming tackles for Burkhardt, set the ball in motion for Adofo-Mensah’s unique and impressive career path.

“We ended up having this great time, and I got to know him, and years later, when I came in the building [in San Francisco as the 49ers general manager], there was a connection,” Lynch said. “He’s got a tremendous smile, so you don’t forget that. He’s just a really good person, and obviously everything else I already talked about.”

Adofo-Mensah’s calm but driven disposition made an impact on Burkhardt that afternoon, as well.

“That day was overwhelming for me because I was just trying to survive it,” Burkhardt quipped. “And he just had a great way about him. Even when we got done, I remember saying, ‘Man, [he] was awesome.’ He was just coming in and helping us out. Who he was and his demeanor and attitude, I just thought that was so awesome. I was so thankful because I was just trying to not screw it up.

“Here it was, my first time doing NFL on television, first time working with John and, I guess, Kwesi’s first game working for an NFL team,” Burkhardt added. “And now he’s running a team, John’s running a team and I’ve been [broadcasting NFL games] for 10 years. Gosh, it’s really funny. It’s wild. I’m happy for him.”