NFL hall-of-famer Lynn Swann has some advice for today’s prospective and current college athletes in this new age of NIL.
“You don’t have as much money as you think.”
Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers great who appeared Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, told club founder and emcee David Bazzel that said he advises young athletes to be smart and invest their money so it can continue to work for them once their playing careers are done. After all, the government will take about half and agents another 20 percent, he said.
“A problem with success is that you have to manage it so you can have a good life,” he said. “I hope universities are staying in touch with the NIL athletes and helping them learn how to handle success.”
Swann has experienced success on multiple levels. Over his nine-year playing career in Pittsburgh, the Steelers won four Super Bowl titles, and Swann was named MVP of Super Bowl X following the 1975 season. He was an All-American wide receiver for John McKay’s vaunted USC Trojans of the early 1970s, helping Southern Cal win a national title. He later would serve as athletics director at his alma mater from 2016 to 2019. He was a part of the USC team that beat preseason No. 1 Arkansas in Little Rock in 1972. Of that experience, Swann quipped, “It was a different atmosphere than we were used to. We got to the stadium, and they were holding a Hog calling contest.”
Swann said the Trojans were motivated by a quote attributed to Arkansas quarterback Joe Ferguson, in which the future Buffalo signal-caller for OJ Simpson said USC would represent a stepping stone to a national championship. Swann said he was sure to mention Arkansas as a stepping stone in his post-game comments. (Swann also confirmed that such bulletin board material is indeed a motivating factor for players.)
Swann was a Steeler when that franchise was cementing its blue-collar, Steel Curtain — and championship-winning — culture. The Steelers won four Super Bowls after the 1974, ’75, ’78 and ’79 seasons. Swann was a part of the ’74 Pittsburgh draft class that produced four future hall-of-famers: Swann, John Stallworth, Mike Webster and Jack Lambert. It is the only time one team has drafted four future “gold jackets” in one class; it’s rare for a team to draft two such players in one class.
Swann, 74 but looking 30 years younger, said he feels lucky and fortunate to have been a part of that historic Pittsburgh run.
“We wanted to be role models for Pittsburgh,” he said. “Steelers fans work hard, fight hard and love hard, and they supported us every step of the way, even when we couldn’t win a game. We were proud to represent the city and have an impact on the people of this city.”
One of the Steeler memories of which he is most fond came after his playing days. When the Steelers earned the “one for the thumb” — the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl — following the 2005 season, Swann returned to Pittsburgh for the celebration.
Swann said the “passing of that tradition and history” after the Super Bowl X win, new generations of Steelers fans celebrating together and fathers telling sons, “This is what I was talking about,” referencing the Steelers of the ’70s, was “overwhelming.”
A member of both the college and pro football halls, Swann established a reputation for making catches at USC. Diminutive by today’s standards at just 5 feet, 11 inches, Swann was noted for his ballerina-like, mid-air receptions. Turns out, the dance lessons his mom made him take beginning in fourth grade (and which he continued through college) paid dividends. Swann admitted to being teased about it as a kid, but told Bazzel that his years of training helped him leap better.
“Dancing gives you great body control,” he said. “It gives you a few more assets. Nobody felt bad about it when I jumped up and caught a pass.”
Swann also enjoyed a 30-year career as a broadcaster for ABC Sports. He worked Monday Night Football, the summer and winter Olympics and more — even the Iditarod in Alaska. It was a career he began preparing for while still at USC, knowing his football-playing career would not last forever. Swann said he negotiated his own contract with ABC over the phone before telling legendary Steelers head coach Chuck Noll, before his final season in 1982, that he was hanging up the cleats for a microphone at the end of the season.
Swann said he uses this anecdote when he advises young athletes.
“You’ve got to look down the road,” he said. “You have to think about how the industry is going to change, how do you stay relevant… That was my mindset. You’ve got to figure out what’s next and be prepared to move on to the next phase of life.”
The Steelers developed an intense rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys when Swann was playing. Pittsburgh beat Dallas in Super Bowl X and again in Super Bowl XIII. (The Cowboys, of course, would exact some revenge with a win over the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.) Swann, connecting with his pro-Razorback, pro-Cowboy audience, joked that the two teams represented very different attitudes. The Steelers were Pittsburgh through and through, he said: steel, coal mining, black and gold, grinding it out. The Cowboys, on the other hand, were the “pretty boy” team that pranced out onto the field and were all about the star on the helmet, he quipped.
“We ironed it all out on the football field,” he said.
Feature photo by DeWaine Duncan
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