Fight On, Swann!
Posted on 11/01/2006 9:31:14 PM PST by Tamzee
SLATINGTON, Pa. - Even a cinder-block fire hall, a sparse crowd, and bad lighting can't diminish Lynn Swann's star power.
When he enters the Vigilant Fire Company, looking football-fit at 54 and wearing a suit and tie, the few dozen audience members pop out of their fold-up chairs to cheer him.
Swann flashes a megawatt smile, grabs a stool at the front of the room, and tells them why he left a comfortable life as a celebrity broadcaster to run for governor of Pennsylvania.
"If I didn't think we needed a change, I'd be content to stay at home, do the football thing, and play with my kids," Swann told the audience, most of them older residents of this aging Northeast Pennsylvania borough once dominated by silk mills and slate quarries.
Swann has had a storied life: He was known as the Baryshnikov of the gridiron for his acrobatic catches during his Super Bowl-studded years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, spent 26 years as a sideline commentator for ABC Sports, landed bit roles in movies, and was tapped by President Bush as the nation's fitness czar.
Now add to that: politician.
"I think he's a gentleman. He's honest," said Diane Schnaars, 60, a Democrat who wanted to hear Swann because she was upset about "politics as usual" in Harrisburg.
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When Swann made his teary victory speech to state Republican Party leaders after clinching the gubernatorial nomination last February, he did so as a political neophyte. He had never run for local office. His spotty voting record was evidence that he hadn't shown that much interest in politics.
But in a month he had outmuscled a more experienced rival, former Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton, to become the party's unanimous choice for governor.
State Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer (R., Blair) told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "He's Ed Rendell's worst nightmare."
State leaders looked to Swann as someone who could divert some of the African American vote that propelled Gov. Rendell to victory in 2002. But after an initial surge of interest, Swann has struggled to come within striking distance of Rendell.
Despite surrounding himself with policy and campaign operatives from the Ridge administration - and former Gov. Tom Ridge himself as honorary chairman - it took Swann months to develop a message and release a platform. All the while, his fund-raising has lagged - allowing Rendell's TV commercials to go unchallenged for weeks and resulting in a huge gap in the polls.
The people who know Swann best say that what he lacks in political experience, he makes up for in character and commitment.
"Lynn has strong values and does not falter under difficult situations," said Swann's older brother, Brian.
His close friend of 16 years, David Motley, said Swann's desire to give back to his adopted state edged him toward politics.
"He believes in the adage 'To whom much is given, much is expected,' " said Motley, who is godfather to Swann's 10-year-old son, Shafer. "He feels an ownership of Pennsylvania."
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Lynn Curtis Swann was born in Alcoa, Tenn., a factory town at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains near Knoxville, founded by the Pittsburgh-based aluminum company Alcoa. He was named Lynn, the oft-told story goes, because his mother wanted a girl.
Swann lived in a tight-knit neighborhood, where family and Baptist faith mattered most. But in the segregated South of the 1950s, Swann's parents felt there was little opportunity for their children.
"Segregation was a way of life," Brian Swann said. "It was clear you went along with the program and dealt with it. Blacks had to sit in the balcony of one movie theater - the other theater, you couldn't go into."
The family moved to San Mateo, Calif., a San Francisco suburb, when Lynn Swann was 2. But he and his two older brothers returned to Alcoa each summer, where they hunted snakes with their BB guns and drank Nehi soda after Little League games.
In California, Swann received an academic scholarship to attend Junipero Serra High School, a Catholic boys' school. He was among the first minority students at the school, which he attended only at his mother's insistence.
An all-American at the University of Southern California (where he played on two Rose Bowl teams and won a national championship in 1972), Swann was drafted in the first round in 1974 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. A star wide receiver in the NFL, Swann helped lead the Steelers to four Super Bowl wins.
Swann's athleticism and grace, skills that were fine-tuned during years of ballet training, propelled him to stardom on the field. His good looks and charisma made him a star off the field when he retired in 1983.
For 26 years, Swann covered college football for ABC Sports. But he also covered less familiar sports, including the Iditarod sled-dog race - an experience, he says, that tested his survival skills in the Alaskan outback.
Later he hosted Battle of the Network Stars and To Tell the Truth, played himself in The Waterboy with Adam Sandler, and made a cameo appearance in ballet tights on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
In 2002, he was appointed by President Bush as chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and he has served on the corporate boards of Hershey Foods, Wyndham Hotels, and H.J. Heinz.
In addition, he makes a lucrative living from his celebrity status. He commands $30,000 as a motivational speaker and operates an autograph and memorabilia business.
Swann also spent considerable time volunteering, serving for 25 years as the celebrity spokesman for Big Brothers/Big Sisters and creating scholarships for aspiring dancers.
Swann lives with his wife, Charena, a psychologist, and their sons, Braxton, 7, and Shafer, 9, in a sprawling home on six acres in the Pittsburgh suburb of Sewickley Heights - the same posh neighborhood where the Alcoa founder lived a century ago.
Swann's brief marriage to model Bernadette Robi - daughter of Paul Robi, a member of the 1950s group the Platters - ended in divorce in 1981.
His friends describe Swann as a Renaissance man, with broad interests - wine and woodworking among them - and say competition drives him to succeed at whatever he does, whether it's golf, biking, skiing, hiking or running for office.
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Some family members think the positive reaction to Swann's 2001 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech may have planted the first seeds of a political career. "People started approaching him saying he should run for office," Brian Swann said.
Despite being raised in a family of Democrats, Lynn Swann said, he gravitated toward the Republican Party in the 1970s or early 1980s. "It was a process," he said. "Conservative values was more the way I lived."
Fast-forward to the 2004 Republican convention, where Swann made fund-raising appearances for President Bush.
"There was a lot of buzz," Renee Amoore, deputy state chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, said of Swann.
Amoore, who is African American, said that after 10 years as a party leader it was her "dream come true... to have an African American running for governor. We need to practice what we preach about being inclusive."
But Swann hasn't used race to his advantage in the campaign.
Swann often opens his stump speeches telling voters they have a chance to make history by electing an African American governor. That's as far as the race issue usually goes for Swann, who rarely discusses his personal experiences with racism - including a violent confrontation with San Francisco police officers during a 1974 traffic stop - even when it could mean establishing a stronger connection with black voters.
Swann said he doesn't talk about the traffic stop because he has "moved on."
Brian Swann, who was driving the car that night, said he, too, wondered why his brother had not raised the issue. But, he said, "Lynn is not one to capitalize on the negative to his advantage."
Some political observers think Swann may have squandered an opportunity with a large, traditionally Democratic voting bloc. The Temple/Inquirer Poll released today showed Swann's support at just 6 percent among black voters.
"There were 330,000 African American voters in 2002, and Rendell got between 85 and 88 percent of them," said political analyst G. Terry Madonna. "I argued that Swann could get 25 percent of them, but he hasn't made it a priority."
With the election nine days away and some analysts calling the race a blowout, Swann shows no sign of giving up. He's buckling down for the final 72-hour push and sending out invitations to his victory party.
Just don't ask what's next if he doesn't win. Swann won't go there.
Unblinking, he says: "I don't think about losing."
Lynn Swann
Age: 54
Party:Republican
Education: Bachelor's degree in public relations, University of Southern California.
Experience: 1974-83, wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers; 1976-2005, sports reporter and analyst for ABC Sports; 2002-05, chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and sports. Serves on the boards of H.J. Heinz Co., Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, and Wyndham International Inc. Also serves on the board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America.
Family: Swann, his wife, Charena, and sons Braxton, 7, and Shafer, 9, live in Sewickley Heights.
----------------------- Contact staff writer Amy Worden at 717-783-2584 or aworden@phillynews.com.
ping
Maybe somehow Kerry's comments and refusal to apologize until it was too late will help Swann. I'd love to see him win. Did the voters not see that catch in the Super Bowl!
First electoral bid, and ZERO professional electoral effort.
For God's sake, Mr. Swann, next time hire someone serious.
I love Lynn Swann, but where the F was he? He declined a SOLO appearance on the Philly sports station, I have only seen 3 of his commercials, and he is never in the news. Why did he run in the first place? He is going to be the Doug Forrester of Pennsylvania politics.
Bumping for Swann and Matthews. It will be much closer than the polls are saying and every vote counts.
Swan - and for that matter Santorum - has run the most lifeless campaigns I have ever seen. Their media effort is being trumped by their opponents (Fast Eddie Rendell and empty-suit Casey). Swann in particular seems to be just going through the motions - like no contact drills at Steeler camp in Latrobe.
Actually, I think Swann's commercials have been pretty darn good!
Therein lies part of the problem. Too bad he didn't surround himself with conservatives.
Swann would be far better for PA, than his opponent Ed Rendell, who has done enough damage. Republicans and conservatives simply must get out and vote for him next Tuesday! Go Lynn!!!!
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