Lynn Swann, hall of fame football player. (Power Play).

Lynn Swann is the newly named chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. As a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, he helped the team to win four Super Bowls. Last year, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Swann has been a full-time sports broadcaster for ABC Sports since his retirement from football in 1983.

He has long been a dedicated community volunteer. He has provided more than 100 scholarships to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School for children between the ages of 10 and 18. Since 1980, he has been the national spokesperson for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

Swann has said that, as chair of the President's Council, he intends to promote the benefits of sports and wants to make sure "the young grow healthily, adults who have gotten away from sports are reinvigorated and seniors understand it's never too late to work out." He has urged Council members to make use of their "tremendous ideas and vast web of contacts, resources, skills and abilities" with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Education and the private sector to benefit the nation.

Following are esccerpts from Swann's keynote address at the opening session of last month's NRPA National Congress & Exposition, in Tampa, Fla.

On getting his start in recreational sports programs: "My parents always insisted that I get involved in a variety of things. That was great--although at the time I didn't really appreciate being an eight-year-old boy named Lynn enrolled in dance school! But I always wanted to participate.

Did you know I was a lousy football player? I wanted to play Pop Warner football not because I was any good, but because I wanted to be on a team and emulate my brother. I snuck out to join the team, and got the last uniform."

On his early opportunities afforded by recreation professionals: "The important thing is that I participated and had a chance. No one knew when I played Pop Warner football that I'd be a professional athlete. None of those people thought I was going to be wearing a Hall of Fame ring one day. The only thing that mattered to them was to provide an opportunity to participate, and that's what we need for everyone.

We can't predict what that experience will do for a young person. That's why the work you do is so important. You create those possibilities and know how that impacts so many lives so positively."

On the role of sports in the lives of ordinary Americans: "The reason we love sports is that sport is a fun way to get exercise. Young people, senior citizens and all of us between need to participate more. I'm not a fan of parking myself in the Barcolounger on Sunday and watching sports all day. People need to do, not watch. We need to have more well-rounded people in our society, people who develop a balance of mind, body and spirit.

Physical activity is not an indulgence. Look, we spend more than $100 billion every year on preventable illnesses related to obesity. Exercising, taking care of ourselves, is not a luxury, but a priority. We can't afford to lose a large segment of our population to obesity."

On how recreation professionals mold future generations: "Before kids can dream, they have to know what they can dream about. That comes about through having opportunities to participate. You are the ones who provide those opportunities and allow kids to dream."