Lynn Swann doesn’t see Megatron as a Hall of Famer

boozeman

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Lynn Swann doesn’t see Megatron as a Hall of Famer

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 10, 2016, 8:29 AM EST


Former Steelers receiver Lynn Swann retired at age 30 with 336 catches for 5,462 yads and 51 touchdowns. But Swann says that Calvin Johnson, who’s expected to retire at the age of 30 with 731 catches for 11,619 yards and 83 touchdowns, shouldn’t join him in the Hall of Fame.

“I would think that it would be difficult for Calvin Johnson at this point to be considered a Hall of Famer,” Swann told the Detroit News. “Calvin Johnson has an extreme amount of talent and ability, but when you start to look at his team, the success of his team and did he lift that team; he made them a little bit better, but at the end of the day, I’m not quite sure.”

That argument is, frankly, ridiculous. Swann is essentially saying that because he won four Super Bowl rings on a 1970s Steelers team that was among the most talented ever, he belongs in the Hall of Fame. But because Johnson suffered the fate of being drafted onto a team built by Matt Millen, he doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame.

Super Bowl rings are a team accomplishment, and no one would dispute that Swann was on much, much better teams than Johnson. But the Hall of Fame is about individual accomplishment, and on that score Megatron easily beats Swann. Megatron owns the all-time NFL record for receiving yards in a season, led the league in receiving yards twice and led the league in catches and touchdowns once each. Swann never led the league in catches or yards and was only in the Top 5 in either category once, in 1977, when he was fourth in the league in receiving yards. Johnson was a first-team All-Pro three times; Swann was a first-team All-Pro once. Johnson was a six-time Pro Bowler; Swann was a three-time Pro Bowler.

But Swann harps on team accomplishments.

“Hard to say he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame when his team hasn’t gotten to a Super Bowl, and they don’t get a chance to get into the playoffs,” Swann said. “And that’s for a lot of guys across the board. If he had broken every passing record, like Danny Fouts, who didn’t win the Super Bowl, then yeah, I think there’s going to be consideration.”

Fouts didn’t actually break every passing record, but he and Swann are friends and former broadcasting colleagues, so apparently Swann is willing to bend the facts for a buddy. For Megatron, Swann would prefer to keep the Hall of Fame doors shut.
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My God.

What an incredible cunt.
 

Clay_Allison

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Lynn Swann shouldn't be a HOFer. I don't think Cal should either, because IMO you need a longer career than that. IMO Cal would have been if he hadn't suddenly retired, but his career numbers didn't get to the right levels. He's not going to compare well in the end to Larry Fitzgerald who is going to go over 15k yards and 100 TDs.
 

boozeman

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Lynn Swann shouldn't be a HOFer. I don't think Cal should either, because IMO you need a longer career than that. IMO Cal would have been if he hadn't suddenly retired, but his career numbers didn't get to the right levels. He's not going to compare well in the end to Larry Fitzgerald who is going to go over 15k yards and 100 TDs.
So anyways.

Lynn Swann is an incredible cunt.

Discuss.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Lynn Swann shouldn't be a HOFer. I don't think Cal should either, because IMO you need a longer career than that. IMO Cal would have been if he hadn't suddenly retired, but his career numbers didn't get to the right levels. He's not going to compare well in the end to Larry Fitzgerald who is going to go over 15k yards and 100 TDs.
Calvin is a freak physical talent that we've really never seen at the position before. But when a guy retires at the age of 30 with no post season success it's really hard to make the argument that he should be in the Hall. I mean the year Calvin almost broke 2000 yards might be one of the most insane seasons for a WR ever. But the Hall is about a career and not just about a a few seasons.

With that being said Swann is a prick who doesn't deserve anything he has.
 

Clay_Allison

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Calvin is a freak physical talent that we've really never seen at the position before. But when a guy retires at the age of 30 with no post season success it's really hard to make the argument that he should be in the Hall. I mean the year Calvin almost broke 2000 yards might be one of the most insane seasons for a WR ever. But the Hall is about a career and not just about a a few seasons.

With that being said Swann is a prick who doesn't deserve anything he has.
I also think Cal got lazy and nursed injuries the second he got paid. He never had any passion for the game. Those are not hall of fame qualities.
 

Cotton

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So anyways.

Lynn Swann is an incredible cunt.

Discuss.
He is a douchebag. When he was with ABC as a sidelines reporter we had a couple of run-ins with him on gameday at home games at Tech when ABC was broadcasting the games. He is the "don't you know who I am" type. On one specific occasion, my wife was working access control to one of the parking lots at a game about 7 years ago, and he tried to get access to that lot. She told him no because he didn't have the proper credentials to park in that lot. He dropped the "don't you know who I am" line. She had no clue who he was, and told him as much. He finally relented after we had to call the cops on him to get him the hell out of the way. Later that evening while we were watching the Tech game, she recognizes him as the reporter on the TV, and tells me the story. I was like oh wow, you called the cops on Swanny.

CSB that accentuates that he is a douchenozzle.
 

UncleMilti

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Lynn Swann was about a career with just a few highlight catches. Drew Pearson should be in before Swann.
Agreed.
 

UncleMilti

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Calvin is a freak physical talent that we've really never seen at the position before. But when a guy retires at the age of 30 with no post season success it's really hard to make the argument that he should be in the Hall. I mean the year Calvin almost broke 2000 yards might be one of the most insane seasons for a WR ever. But the Hall is about a career and not just about a a few seasons.

With that being said Swann is a prick who doesn't deserve anything he has.
I guess if you go off numbers alone, then Swann should still be waiting and Megatron and Owens should be headed in.

Thats one thing thats always confused me about the HOF...is it numbers, or likability, or numbers and likability, or WTF.
 

L.T. Fan

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Actually probably neither Johnson or Swann should be in the HOF.
 

Angrymesscan

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Megatron I could see, but Swann made the HoF a joke to me. There's no reason for him to be there except he was part of a beastly team.
 

Genghis Khan

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Here's a fun fact. I once voted for Swann for Pennsylvania governor when he ran in I think 2006. :unsure

In my defense, he was running against Ed Rendell, who is a huge douche.
 

1bigfan13

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Megatron I could see, but Swann made the HoF a joke to me. There's no reason for him to be there except he was part of a beastly team.
Yep. That's pretty much how I see it as well.
 

DLK150

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Lynn Swann was about a career with just a few highlight catches. Drew Pearson should be in before Swann.
I agree. Bradshaw was basically mediocre as well. He and Swann won four rings and lit it up in a couple of their SBs. That's it.
 

ravidubey

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Of course Mr. 336 career catches would speak out against a clear great like Johnson who's only fault was playing on a lot of bad teams. Swann would have lasted about four minutes in Detroit.
 

Genghis Khan

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Except Swann's deficiencies aside, he's right about Johnson. He simply didn't do it long enough.
 
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