Swann Made His Mark on a Super Sunday

JAN. 18, 1976

On a crisp, clear Miami afternoon, a young receiver named Lynn Swann had his greatest day in football and his brilliance augmented what was generally considered the first great Super Bowl.

Most Super Bowls fail to rise to expectations, but not the 10th in the series. Pittsburgh and Dallas created a masterpiece, and Swann’s four-catch, 161-yard day was the difference in a 21-17 Steeler victory that came down to the final minutes.

In the fourth quarter, with Pittsburgh protecting a 15-10 lead, Swann streaked down the middle, into the clear and gracefully gathered in a Terry Bradshaw pass for a stunning 64-yard touchdown with 11:58 to play.

In the first quarter, he had made a leaping catch on a 32-yard play to set up the Steelers’ first score.

Said Swann later of the 64-yard play: “That was the best catch I ever made in professional football.”

Another major play, one that reduced Dallas’ lead to 10-9 early in the last quarter, was registered by Steeler sub Reggie Harrison, who blocked Mitch Hoopes’ punt out of the end zone for a safety with 3:32 left.

Forty-one years ago today, people began calling Willie O’Ree “the Jackie Robinson” of ice hockey.

He became the NHL’s first black player when he stepped onto the ice for the Boston Bruins on this date in 1958. He began a slow process that changed what was then not only an all-white sport, but an almost all-Canadian sport too.

Today, the NHL is no longer all-white nor all-Canadian. Twelve blacks have played in the league this season, out of 680 players. And the league--whose players were 99% Canadian in 1969--has had players from as many as 17 countries in recent seasons.