Is Lynn Swann is “the most overrated player in the history” of the Pittsburgh Steelers? "New Arena" thinks he is, but they have no clue

Lynn Swann in his Super Bowl performance against the Cowboys

Photo courtesy of You Tube

… watch a video of this receiver

One of the negatives about the internet is the fact that people with no knowledge or credibility can create a website, say some outrageous things, and then advertise them as realistic.

Perhaps the most outrageous of these sites is called New Arena. They make claims like this: Who is “The most overrated player in the history of each NFL franchise?” Then they have two guys who are unknowns who try to take some stats and make a case to support their claims.

For instance, in the most overrated player category for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they list Lynn Swann, a four-time Super Bowl champion in the 1970s, a player who won the Super Bowl MVP on one of those occasions, and a three-time member of the Pro Bowl.

Then they use the most illogical rationale to support their decision.

Here is the rationale for saying that the Hall of Fame receiver was overrated:

Swann’s spot on this list is in part due to John Stallworth never receiving enough credit. The Pittsburgh receiving duo were in the same draft class (1972), but Swann was a first-round pick while Stallworth had to wait until the fourth round to hear his name called. By 1984, Stallworth was polishing off the best season of his career (80/1,395/11), while Swann was already two years removed from the league. Stallworth finished his career with three seasons of over 1,000 receiving yards to Swann’s zero. It just so happens that Swann made a handful of miraculous plays in big games, which is why his name typically gets brought up before his teammate’s.

Harris Ahmadzal and Jason Fray, New Arena, 2019

In reality

First, there is no question that John Stallworth was also a great receiver. But to say that because Swann was a number 1 pick and Stallworth a 4, that makes Swann overrated is ridiculous.

And to say that Swann is rated highly because of a “handful of miraculous plays in big games” degrades his tremendous accomplishments because in one of those Super Bowls, he was the MVP because of those great catches. However, it was more than a handful.

Stallworth was underrated

The truth is that throughout his career, Stallworth was often underrated. However, part of that had to do with the fact that some of his best production came after the Super Bowl years of the 1970s. Two of those 1,000-yard seasons came after the glory years, catching 63 passes for 1,098 yards and five touchdowns in 1981 and his best year, 75 catches for 1,395 yards and 11 touchdowns in 1984 — after Swann had retired.

He caught 537 passes for 8.723 yards and 63 touchdowns in 14 years. He averaged 16.2 yards per catch in his career.

Swann quit playing after just nine seasons for one reason: too many concussions. He still recorded 336 receptions for 5,462 passes for 51 touchdowns in those eights years, averaging 16.3 yards per catch.

He was a first-team all-pro in 1978 and made the pro bowl three years.

Conclusion

Fans can debate which one was better, Swann or Stallworth. That is a good argument.

However, to argue that either one of these guys is overrated reflects little knowledge of the game.

I looked for bios on the two writers who put this together, and could find nothing about Harris Ahmadzal. There is a person by that name in Las Vegas, and he is just 26-years-old. The only thing I could find about Jason Fray is that he is a senior content editor for New Arena.

In either case, they certainly did not make a good argument for their thesis here. Lynn Swann was a great player, and he is not overrated.