Lynn Swann
Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952, in Alcoa, Tennessee) is a former professional football player and current sports broadcaster and politician. Swann went to Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California.
Football career
Swann was an All-American at the University of Southern California, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 21st pick of the first round in the 1974 NFL Draft. Swann is best known for his play as a wide receiver from 1974 to 1982 with the Steelers, the only team for which he played. He was a member of four Steelers Super Bowl champion teams, was named the Super Bowl MVP of Super Bowl X in January, 1976, and earned three Pro Bowl selections.
He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993. Though his professional career didn't yield large statistics, Swann was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Post-football career
Swann is the Chairman of the United States President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and serves as a director on the boards of H J Heinz Co. and Wyndham International. He has been a football and sports broadcaster for ABC Sports since 1976. Swann also briefly hosted the televison game show To Tell The Truth on NBC from 1990 to 1991. His fourteen week run as emcee met with critical disdain, and he was replaced by Alex Trebek.
2006 Gubernatorial candidacy
In December 2004, Swann, who resides in the Pittsburgh suburb of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, indicated that he was considering seeking the Republican nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania in the 2006 election. On February 23, 2005, Swann filed papers with the state elections board stating his intention to run. On the same day he formed a fundraising committee called Team 88 after his Steeler jersey number. On January 4, 2006, Swann formally declared his candidacy for Governor of Pennsylvania.
Swann's opponents in the Republican primary will probably include former Pennsylvania Lt. Governor William W. Scranton, III, the son of former state governor William Scranton. The incumbent, Democrat Ed Rendell, is expected to seek reelection.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted in October 2005 showed Swann trailing Rendell by 13 points in a hypothetical general election matchup, (34% to Rendell's 47%). Meanwhile, Swann leads a hypothetical Republican primary with 26 percent, compared to 23 percent for Scranton, 5 percent for Piccola and 39 percent undecided. [1].
Olbermann controversy
During the ESPN radio broadcast of the Dan Patrick Show on January 6th 2006 Keith Olbermann interviewed then Republican gubernatorial nominee hopeful. Swann expecting it to be a lightweight question interview (he joked to Patrick that he didn’t know he’d changed to a news show) was caught off guard by Olbermann's questions. Olbermann’s first question was how Swann felt about the current dispute between McCain/Warner/Graham and the Bush administration on the administration appearing to disregard an act of Congress related to torture. Particularly what Swann thought about the split within the Republican party, and which side he was on. Swann responded that he felt there was no split and it wasn’t a state issue, so it didn’t really matter to the his political campaign.
Olbermann responded that if Swann wanted a state question, he had one: Senator Rick Santorum has been threatening that he may go after New Jersey federal funding if they didn't agree to dredge the Delaware River. Swann, silent for a few moments, responded that he had been on a bus, and hadn’t seen the papers (even though it’s been a contentious issue for close to a month), and he really didn’t know anything about it. Olbermann then quietly suggested that Swann "jot this down", and threw it back to Patrick with the question, “are you glad you wanted to do that now?”
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