CANTON, Ohio -- Lynn Swann stepped to the podium, listening to the deafening chants of "Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go," from the towel-waving throng of Steelers fans, taking it all in. The wait finally over.
It had taken him 14 years to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame, more than a decade to take his place with National Football League receivers who might have made more catches but never displayed such style, such athletic grace when it mattered most.
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Lynn Swann acknowledges his fans yesterday -- "Someone asked me, 'Are you savoring the moment?' I said, 'No, I'm not savoring the moment. I'm sucking it dry.' " (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette) |
When the journey finally came to an end, Swann stood there yesterday on the front steps of the Hall of Fame, adorned in the traditional gold jacket, and took his place in the shrine with seven teammates and a head coach from the Super Bowl days of the 1970s. And he did what he always seemed to do when he got on a big stage during his nine-year career with the Steelers -- he performed.
"Someone asked me, 'Are you savoring the moment?' " Swann said. "I said, No, I'm not savoring the moment. I'm sucking it dry. I'm not here to taste every little bit. I'm inhaling it as fast as I can."
How appropriate for a wide receiver who took everyone's breath away with his high-wire, acrobatic catches.
It has been that way for Swann since he was presented with his gold Hall of Fame jacket at a dinner Friday night. Yesterday, by the time he was presented for induction by his former receiving partner, John Stallworth, and entertained a Steelers-heavy audience with a spirited acceptance speech, Swann was awash in celebratory emotion.
"When we were on that stage Friday night, it was such a high," Swann said. "Gawd, you're out there on that stage, you're sucking it up, and they're all there for you. I felt like Sally Fields, 'You like me, you like me.' I didn't want to leave."
Swann, a No. 1 draft choice in 1974, was the last of the seven enshrinees to be presented for induction. The Hall of Fame likely did that to ensure the crowd, half of which seemed to be wearing black and gold, stuck around to the end of the 3-hour, 45-minute ceremony.
Four of Swann's former teammates -- Hall of Fame members Franco Harris, Mel Blount, Mike Webster and Jack Ham, his Sewickley neighbor -- sat on the stage with him. So did former Coach Chuck Noll and owner Dan Rooney, who flew here after attending the Steelers' preseason opener in Atlanta on Friday night.
They did that to honor Swann, who played with the Steelers from 1974 to 1982, and the other inductees: Former Miami Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti, former Buffalo Bills Coach Marv Levy, former Penn State and Houston Oilers offensive guard Mike Munchak, former Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Jackie Slater, former Rams defensive end Jack Youngblood and former Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Ron Yary.
"It was 14 years on that list before I could stand here today and wear this gold jacket to tell you thank you and how much I love and appreciate how you supported me over these years," Swann said, directing his remarks to the black-and-gold fans in the estimated crowd of 12,000 that ringed the steps of the Hall of Fame.
Swann's induction -- he becomes the 18th member of the Steelers' organization to be enshrined -- was the start of a Hall of Fame weekend for city sports fans. Today, former Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski will be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Like Mazeroski, Swann had to wait a long time.
"I think this is a great weekend for the city of Pittsburgh, the Pirates and Steelers, and all of our sports fans," said Swann, an announcer for ABC Sports. "I'm honored, after 14 years of waiting, to go into the Hall of Fame the same weekend Bill Mazeroski is going into the Hall of Fame. He retired the year I came to Pittsburgh, in 1974, so I never had a chance to see him play."
Swann and Maz shared a common talent -- hands as soft as butter, the ability to come up with a ball when not many thought it possible.
For Swann, the bigger the stage, the greater the catch. He retired in 1982 as only the third-leading receiver in Steelers history -- with 336 catches, 5,462 yards and 51 touchdowns. But his acrobatic catches in big games, including two highlight-film receptions against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X, epitomized his Steelers career.
Swann's midfield catch over Cowboys cornerback Mark Washington, in which he tipped the ball in the air and caught it while falling to the ground, might be the most replayed reception in Super Bowl history. But perhaps the greatest catch in that game came along the right sideline when he leaped over Washington and still managed to tip-toe both feet in bounds.
"I don't think it was so much a flare for the dramatic as much as we were presented some opportunities in some important ballgames where I was called on to do something different, to do something extra, and was able to do it," Swann said. "I always felt I played with a sense of urgency. The Steelers may not throw a lot of passes, so if they're not going to throw a lot, it's important to catch the ones they do throw. [Terry] Bradshaw is going to have confidence in his receivers because you make the catch, not because you didn't make the catch.
"In football, where games are on the line, whether it was a Super Bowl or a playoff game or an important regular-season game, your teammates aren't asking whether it was an easy catch or a tough catch, only if you made the catch. You feel like you have to go out and make that catch."
Swann did that as well as anyone in NFL history. His leaping, graceful catches changed the acrobatic way receivers played the game. Modern-day players such as Jerry Rice, Cris Carter and Randy Moss have come up to Swann and told him they always wanted to be like No. 88.
"When you have that kind of impact on these players ...you know you imparted to the game something that was of great value," Swann said.
During his speech, Swann thanked the "magnificent work" of Post-Gazette sports writer Ed Bouchette, who is Pittsburgh's representative on the Hall of Fame selection committee, for garnering support for his induction. He also cited the "undying support" of broadcaster Myron Cope, who preceded Bouchette on the committee and lobbied, unsuccessfully, for years to get Swann inducted in the Hall of Fame.
The only time his voice began to quiver is when he remembered two of his late teammates -- center Ray Mansfield and defensive tackle Steve Furness -- and former USC Coach John McKay, who died in June.
"I wish they were still here to be a part of this moment," Swann said.
Lynn Swann enters the Pro Football Hall of Fame 
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