While it may not be reflected in their game checks relative to quarterbacks and other high-profile positions, fullbacks will always carry currency with fans.

“Because fans represent the blue-collar, working-class people that fullbacks represent as well,” Hynoski said. “We’re not the ones that are getting noticed or the recognition or the notoriety involved with it, and quite honestly, we don’t care about that. I think that’s what the fans appreciate most about it, and there’s not a fanbase that appreciates a fullback more than New York. I think they’ve been calling for a true fullback. If you think about it, it’s been over a decade since [there has been] a true fullback that you can just line up and grind out games with. And [Ricard] is the guy to do it – absolutely, 100 percent. And he can catch the ball, too. He’s athletic for his size. He really is. He’s athletic for his size, but he’s a force. He’s a hammer.”

Hynoski wasn’t always behind the scenes. In high school, he was the scene.

Hynoski finished sixth in Pennsylvania history with 7,165 career rushing yards and scored 113 touchdowns at perennial power Southern Columbia Area, which he led to a 58-3 mark in four years as a starter.

He was named The Associated Press Pennsylvania Class A Player of the Year as a senior after rushing for 2,407 yards and 42 touchdowns on 206 carries, an average of 11.7 yards per attempt, and led Southern Columbia to a 16-0 mark with an average victory margin of 39 points per contest. Southern Columbia won the PIAA Class A championship for a state-record fifth consecutive year.

In 20 career playoff games (all victories), Hynoski rushed for 3,234 yards and 41 touchdowns on 320 attempts (10.1 avg.). He set a PIAA state playoff record with 409 yards rushing and six touchdowns vs. Pius X in a state quarterfinal game his sophomore season.

In the NFL, Hynoski had 12 rushing attempts for 33 yards.

“I’ll be honest with you, I never really cared about stats or breaking records,” Hynoski said. “I just wanted to win, and that was my role at the time. I loved that it was on my shoulders, but it was just a different approach and a shift in mentality. I just love the game. That was what my role called for me at the time. College was a little bit of a different role [at Pitt]. I was more of a H-back than a true fullback in college. It’s just adapting. If you love football, you adapt. I would have played linebacker if they told me. It’s just the mentality, and it goes back to having that mentality as a fullback. You really have to love football to be a fullback, especially a true pro-style fullback, three-point stance, hand in the dirt, running power, running lead, running iso. You’ve got to love football to be able to do that.”

Now he loves paving the way for high school students as their principal and raising two children – Hudson, 8, and Paulina, who was just registered for kindergarten – with his wife Laura.

“We’re just enjoying our time with our family and continuing to enjoy watching them grow,” Hynoski said. “And they’re in my school district, too. So, I’ll be their principal eventually.”

A piece of advice to the students of Southern Columbia: stay in line.