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Career Statistics (1974 - 1982)  |
| YEAR | GAMES | REC | YARDS | AVG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 12 | 11 | 208 | 18.9 | 2 |
| 1975 | 14 | 49 | 781 | 15.9 | 11 |
| 1976 | 12 | 28 | 516 | 18.4 | 3 |
| 1977 | 14 | 50 | 789 | 15.8 | 7 |
| 1978 | 16 | 61 | 880 | 14.4 | 11 |
| 1979 | 13 | 41 | 808 | 19.7 | 5 |
| 1980 | 13 | 44 | 710 | 16.1 | 7 |
| 1981 | 13 | 34 | 505 | 14.9 | 5 |
| 1982 | 9 | 18 | 265 | 14.7 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 115 | 336 | 5,462 | 16.3 | 51 |
Then by your logic, Terry Bradshaw shouldn't be in there as well. Like I said...different era for football. Rule and field-configuration changes starting in 1978 made the game more passing friendly. It was running-dominated till then.
Swann changed the position of wide reciever league wide. Because of the catches he made, recievers were held to higher standards when catching the ball.
25 years after he retired (prematurely due to multiple concussions) TV announcers still use the phrase "that's a LYNN SWANN catch!" not a Jerry Rice, T.O. or Marvin Harrison, and certainly not Joe Jurevicius catch. Swann was absolutely not the best ever, probably look to Jerry Rice there, but he's certainly deserving of the HoF. Jerry Rice made several 'Lynn Swann' catches in his career, but Swann never made a Jerry Rice catch.
He made it based on changing the definition of a wide receiver in the NFL and for a physical toughness well beyond his relatively small stature. He was the first of the modern day "acrobatic" receivers who have made the game far more exciting than it had been yet he would go across the middle and absorb brutal hits and still hold the ball. He was the most graceful reciever in the game then, but also one of the toughest.
The guy played 9 season and was voted into the pro-bowl by fellow players in 7 of them. He was a first round selection for 25th anniversary Super Bowl team and a quarter century after he made his NFL last catch, he's still on all the highlight reels.
Here's a snip from an article that sums it up.
But what made him a finalist 14 times -- including three appearances among the six finalists in the past four years -- is what put him over the top. He was one of the game's big-play receivers in the regular season and in the Super Bowl. He was MVP of Super Bowl X. Comparisons were made between him and former Bears Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers, who played just seven seasons and compiled only 4,956 yards rushing. Like Sayers, Swann played the game spectacularly before injuries ended his career prematurely.
Swann, 5-11 and 180, caught 336 passes for 5,462 yards and 51 touchdowns. His ratio of one touchdown for every 6.6 receptions is among the best in NFL history.
"Nobody played better in big games, and that's the mark of a great player," said former Steelers coach Chuck Noll. "If we threw the ball a lot more, he could easily have as many catches as other players who are in the Hall of Fame."
Who is this person who is not in the Hall of Fame:
1980 - 58 catches, 797 yds
1981 - 56 catches, 894 yds
1982 - 35 catches, 447 yds
1983 - 47 catches, 746 yds
1984 - 106 catches, 1,372 yds
1985 - 91 catches, 1,226 yds
1986 - 73 catches, 1,068 yds
1987 - 38 catches, 483 yds
1988 - 72 catches, 946 yds
1989 - 86 catches, 1,186 yds
1990 - 68 catches, 770 yds
1991 - 71 catches, 1,049 yds
1992 - 46 catches, 644 yds
1993 - 41 catches, 398 yds
He finished with 940 catches and 12,721 yds and 68 TDS
In 15 playoff games he caught 69 balls for over 1,0000 yds and 7 TDS - he also has 3 rings
Any guesses?