If you ever feel like pointing the blame at someone as to why Lynn Swann retired so early into his eventual Hall of Fame career, make sure it’s at ABC.
In a Jan. 12 interview with Joe Buck on the Undeniable Show, Swann talked about the phone call he received from the network.
“I get a phone call from ABC, and they’ve acquired the rights to the USFL Spring football league,” Swann told Buck. “And I worked with them in the offseason, and they offered me to work for them full-time at ABC, but at that time they felt that they couldn’t have an active player in the NFL. And so I negotiated a contract on the phone that night with ABC and the deal was done.”
Unfortunately, something else that was done was the Steelers winning Super Bowls. After helping the team win four, Pittsburgh went cold for 26 years. In Swann’s final season with the team in 1982, he experienced a dip in his usual production, playing in just nine games and recording 18 catches for 265 yards, and no touchdowns.
The team would go on to lose to the San Diego Chargers, 31-28, in the wild-card round of the AFC playoffs. Swann didn’t have much of an impact in his final NFL game, catching just one ball for 14 yards.
Despite the drop-off in production at the end of his career, Swann was a major factor in Pittsburgh’s dynasty. He led the team in receiving for three of the team’s four Super Bowl victories, earning three Pro Bowl appearances, one coming the same year that he was also an All-Pro selection. Swann was later chosen for the 1970s All-Decade Team.
His most iconic plays came during Super Bowl X where he made the “Kangaroo Catch” and “Levitating Leap,” two acrobatic grabs that earned him Super Bowl MVP honors.
His career behind the camera wasn’t too shabby either. He shares in the interview that, due to the lack of pay in the NFL at that time, he went back to USC to take classes in TV, radio, writing and acting. In fact, Swann began first working in television while he was still a member of the Steelers in 1976.
“I couldn’t get a job in Pittsburgh in the offseason, but I got a job at KABC-TV in Los Angeles,” Swann said. “It always stuck with me that you say, ‘Well, what’s next?’’’
What was next for Swann was 23 years at ABC Sports, which eventually came to an end after the 2006 Super Bowl.
Since then Swann has dipped his toes in politics, running for Pennsylvania Governor in 2006 and before that serving on the President’s Council on Fitness and Wellness from 2002-2005. Years later, he became the USC Athletics Director, filling that role from 2016-2019.
