Swann and Stallworth

The best receiver duo of all time will be featured on A Football Life on NFLNetwork Friday 9:00 EST.

 

Cant wait.

 

My memories are Swann could make the circus catches, but he was hurt sometimes and his career was relatively short. Stallworth was great. I think the value of a taller receiver probably started with him.

Ju Ju is a budding star. Brown and Ju Ju a great combo too. Would be nice if we could get them on the field at the same time.

 

Great! Can't wait to see it. The Steelers also had a guy by the name of Jim Smith, who was their number 3 receiver, that could have been a 1 or 2 on probably 75% of the NFL teams back then.

 

I didn't realize LS and JS had so much animosity with each other. I mean, I knew they were somewhat competitive, but the previews of this show seem to indicate they were not really friends at all. Swannie had more circus catches but JS certainly played much longer and had nice deep speed and size. Add in their rushing game and D and these guys were the icing on the cake.

 

I hope they explain how the Steelers got Stallworth. Wasn't he the one where the film on him before the draft went missing hmmm ?

Old enough to have watched their careers unfold got tired of Swann with the ballet and crap meanwhile Stallworth just kept on making catches without and diva BS of today's WR's.

 

I agree: I really wasn't into the ballet crap, and his diva 'tude. For some reason, he and Sugar Ray Leonard remind me of each other and I never liked Ray when he was fighting but have grown to respect him since. Both Swann and Ray have a certain arrogance about them that rub me the wrong way. When Swann ran for office, I wasn't feeling him then either. John always seemed more down to earth, and a guy who appreciated his role. I recall his play in the Rams' SB game; he broke their backs. Noll kept telling Bradshaw: "We won't beat this defense short, we have to go deep." He sure was right.

 

I was more of a Duran and Hearns fan. I was always a huge fight fan and when Leonard and Duran fought the second time it was if not fixed at least setup to give Leonard a huge advantage.
First fight 18 ft ring second might have been a 22 ft ring not even heavyweights fought in a ring that big back then.

 

Not a catch by Swann there...

 

This should be a mandatory viewing for Martavis Bryant to show how you need to go up fight for the ball.

 

Man, you guys are being a little hard on Swannie, aren't you? Did you ever think that some of that "ballet crap" may have contributed to his unmatched gracefulness as he defied gravity and made some of the most incredible catches you will ever see a WR make? Sure, he and Stalls had different styles, but they were both superstars in their own ways. I think Swann's most graceful act was his speech when he was inducted into the HOF, when he said his greatest hour was only a half hour until Stallworth was inducted, which he was the following year.

 

Great watch....man I loved Stallworth.

 

Swann in ABC's Superstars competition was unbelievable. His athleticism, style, and grace were on full display. He would scale the wall without even using the rope in the obstacle course and finish more than 5 seconds ahead of any competitor. As for Stallworth, touchdowns in eight consecutive playoff games is something I didn't remember if I knew it. It also showed a peel back block of Stallworth picking off a Cowboy in SB XIII. Stallworth,Ward, and Smith-Schuster,
I like it!

 

Its too bad Bradshaw doesn't appreciate the Pittsburgh love, because he is a great storyteller. The memories of the 70's would be even more joyous with Bradshaw's wit and yarns.

 

I heard Bradshaw speak in person once and you are correct, he is an absolutely tremendous storyteller. Some of the stories he told about Swann and Stallworth were great. They were both always open and were always chewing on his ear when they came back to the huddle about how they had their man beat. Swann was in one ear and Stallworth in the other, lol. His impersonation of Stallworth's high-pitched voice was absolutely hilarious!

 

A good friend of mine completely and totally hates Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward.

 

That's crazy talk

 

Is your friend's name Brian Urlacher?

 

I doubt he knows how to spell Swann

 

Jimmy Allen's late wife Cora (she passed away in 2009) used to tell me all sorts of stories about those mid 70's Steelers players- and their wives. One thing I remember her telling me was how surprised she was to see Swann and Stallworth becoming friends, because as she recalled it, during their rookie year they belonged to separate cliques (Allen, Shell and Stallworth all hung around together) and weren't friendly in her experience. I recall her describing Stallworth as a rookie as "shy and terrified" compared to the outgoing Swann, whom Jimmy had a big rivalry with back to their UCLA/USC days. Wow, did she have some stories about those players.

 

That is correct. Alabama A&M loaned his game film to the Steelers and it they "lost" it. They also got the bit in about Noll wanting to draft Stallworth in the first round. The scouts had to talk him into waiting because they knew the Steelers could wait on Stallworth and take Swann first.

 

As much as I loved Chuck Noll, had the Steelers listened to him in the 72 and 74 drafts, they would have missed on both Franco Harris and Lynn Swann. He actually preferred Robert Newhouse over Harris in 72 and, as is mentioned above, wanted to draft Stallworth in the first round over Swann. Thankfully, Noll was smart enough to relent.