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Swann's song Steelers' receiver makes Hall of Fame catch
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- It wasn't the sheer number of receptions Lynn Swann made that put him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after more than a decade of anxious and often frustrating waiting. Rather, it was passes only he could catch that separated him from a handful of receivers in the game's history. Swann doesn't rank among the NFL's all-time top 20 receptions leaders -- his 336 catches aren't even one-third as many as Jerry Rice has made -- and his career lasted only nine years. But when the big catches were needed in big games -- in a run-oriented Pittsburgh Steelers offense, during an era when defenders could bump-and-run receivers all over the field -- nobody made more than Swann. Or made them more spectacularly. Or made catches that were more wondrously photogenic. His acrobatic, you-can't-possibly-make-those grabs in Super Bowls against the Cowboys and Rams remain a staple of NFL highlights reels and were an inspiration to a generation of young receivers. "Jerry Rice came up to me once and said, 'Swannie, you were the guy,'" said Swann, who says several other top receivers have told him the same thing. "That was good to hear."
Almost as good as the words he finally heard Jan. 27, after 14 years of usually being a Hall of Fame finalist but never quite making it. Finally, he learned he would join nine other Steelers from the dynasty days of the 1970s in the Hall of Fame. Swann will be inducted along with linebacker Nick Buoniconti, coach Marv Levy, offensive linemen Mike Munchak, Jackie Slater and Ron Yary and defensive end Jack Youngblood. "I don't think I'll cry much Saturday, because I did enough crying that day," Swann said. Swann's induction is a relief to former teammates such as Jack Ham, Mel Blount and Franco Harris, all of whom worried the forces of quantity would rule over those of quality when it came to debating Swann's Hall of Fame fate. For years, voters were torn between Swann's not-too-spectacular numbers during the regular season -- he didn't even average three receptions per game -- and his remarkable ability to dominate in big games. "The mark of a good player is being able to play in big games, and nobody played better in big games than Lynn Swann," former Steelers coach Chuck Noll said. "If we had thrown the ball more [during the season], he would have been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago." To Swann, the numbers that truly represent his special gifts as a receiver were IX, X, XIII and XIV -- the four Super Bowls the Steelers won in six seasons from 1974-79.
"Without Lynn Swann, the Steelers don't win four Super Bowls," said Blount, a Hall of Fame cornerback. He was right. In the first Steelers-Cowboys Super Bowl, in January 1976, Swann's ballet classes -- yes, ballet -- paid off remarkably as he made two of the most famous catches in NFL history. Swann's sprawling catch of a pass he tipped to himself while tumbling over cornerback Mark Washington may be the most replayed Super Bowl reception ever. Before that, he made a juggling sidelines catch that Ham called "the best catch I ever saw" -- until Swann's next catch, that is. Swann also added a 64-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter. Remarkably, Swann was playing with the aftereffects of a concussion sustained two weeks before, the result of a blindside hit by the Raiders' George Atkinson in the AFC title game. No matter, Swann finished with four catches for 161 yards and the Super Bowl MVP award. Three years later, in the Cowboys-Steelers Super Bowl rematch, he had seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown, then followed that up with five more catches and a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams in the next Super Bowl. And it's not that Swann didn't have good regular seasons to go with his reputation as postseason receiver nonpareil. When he wasn't bothered by concussions and rib injuries, he had 11 touchdown catches each in 1975 and 1978, and his ratio of one touchdown per 6.6 receptions is one of the best in NFL history. "I take some pride that players like Cris Carter and Jerry Rice have said they watched me play when they were coming up and that they wanted to play the game the way I played it," said Swann, an ABC announcer since his retirement following the strike-shortened 1982 season. "That gives me a great deal of satisfaction." Not as much as Saturday will. "It was difficult waiting those 14 years, but maybe it will make me appreciate it more to be in the Hall of Fame," Swann said.
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