Swann, Lynn (1952-)

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Swann, Lynn (1952-)

During the late 1970s, a period when professional football players were joining the ranks of U.S. pop-culture icons, wide receiver Lynn Swann was at the peak of his highly successful nine-year career in the National Football League. Swann played on four Super Bowl championship-winning teams for the Pittsburgh Steelers when that team was dominating NFL play. Swann's trademark was his ability to make acrobatic catches, especially at key junctures of important ballgames.

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Swann, a Tennessee native, in the first round of the 1974 NFL Draft following his graduation from the University of Southern California (USC), where he had been a unanimous choice for All-American honors during his senior year. While at USC he also earned a letter as a long jumper at track.

Swann was named the Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl X in 1976, as Pittsburgh defeated the Dallas Cowboys by a 21-17 score to become only the third team to win back-to-back Super Bowls. Swann caught four passes for a total of 161 receiving yards. The highlight was Swann's catch of a 64-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Terry Bradshaw for a game-deciding score. Swann also made a diving 53-yard catch during the second quarter, a feat that is considered by many to be one of the greatest in Super Bowl history.

In Super Bowl XIII, Swann caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Bradshaw that was the decisive play in the Steelers' 35-31 victory over the Cowboys. Swann caught seven passes for 124 yards in that victory, an accomplishment made even more impressive because of doubts he would even play in that game due to a concussion he incurred in the American Football Conference (AFC) Finals against the Oakland Raiders. He had even been confined to his bed for several days prior to the Super Bowl, with doctors warning him that another hard hit could cause more extensive, and even career-threatening, damage. Despite the risks, Swann decided to play, with spectacular results.

Swann's performance in Super Bowl XIII was the culmination of his best professional season. In that year, 1979, he caught 61 passes for a total of 880 yards, and scored 11 touchdowns. During the 1979 season, Swann caught a decisive 47-yard touchdown pass from Bradshaw in the third quarter of Pittsburgh's 31-19 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, a play in which Swann leapt between two defenders to catch the ball before reaching the end zone.

Part of Swann's great success came from his being teamed with another wide receiver drafted in 1974, John Stallworth, who formed another threat at the wide-receiver position and prevented other teams from focusing all of their attention on Swann. The two men gave quarterback Terry Bradshaw an inviting choice of targets. As Swann noted in Lou Sahadi's Super Steelers: The Making of a Dynasty, "John [Stallworth] and I are both moving targets. It's just up to Terry to hit us. What's happened is that we developed a remarkable, almost undefinable rapport among the three of us."

Swann ranks second in receiving yards in the Super Bowl (364) and touchdowns (3) to San Francisco great Jerry Rice. During his playing career, he was named to the NFL Pro Bowl on three occasions. He has been a finalist for induction into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, every year that he has been eligible. Regarding Swann's failure to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, his teammate Joe Greene noted "Lynn Swann didn't have the stats, but he sure as heck had an impact.… He didn't play a long time, but he made an impact.… He played a lot of big games. I'm a great Lynn Swann fan. He deserves a lot more consideration."

Following his retirement from professional football in 1982, Swann worked as a sports broadcaster for the ABC network, covering football as well as a diverse array of other sports, ranging from rugby to dog-sled racing. Swann has also been active in a wide variety of charitable and other causes. He has served as the national spokesperson for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America since 1980, and on the Board of Trustees of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, for which he created a youth scholarship. He was named the NFL Man of the Year in 1981, and has also competed in several marathons. Swann had a cameo as a television announcer in the 1991 movie The Last Boy Scout.

—Jason George