The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Linebacker Rob Swett Battled Through Injuries To Leave A Champion BY CHRIS BALAS backer Rob Swett was best known as the Pennsylvanian who said "no" to Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, even after a two-hour in-home full- court press from the legendary coach. Immediately after he left U-M, he was the linebacker who persevered through several injuries to help lead the Wolverines to their first national championship in 50 years. Today? The father of three and suc- S cessful business owner is often re- membered, thanks to YouTube.com and ESPN Classic, as "the guy who chased down Andy Katzenmoyer." Swett's pursuit started on a blocked extra point in the 1997 Michigan-Ohio State game and ended when he tack- led the former OSU linebacker yards short of the goal line, preventing two points in a game in which scoring came at a premium. "It's funny how often I get intro- duced that way," Swett recently said with a chuckle via phone from Aus- tin, Texas, where he's resided the past several years. "'Hey, he's the guy that chased Katzenmoyer down!' "That was just good coaching," he quipped. "I'm not that fast — I just took a good angle." Swett's hustle play epitomized Michigan's 1997 season in that no matter the challenge, the Wolverines found a way. That particular play, though, made one fan happier than most. "I was rooming with [quarterback] Scott Dreisbach at the time, and when we got home that night after the game someone had found our phone num- ber and left a message saying, 'Thanks — we covered the spread because of that,'" he recalled. "I guess when you win, there's enough for everybody." In his three prior years playing, though, there wasn't as much win- ning as many expected. As one of the top prospects from the state of Penn- sylvania who got away from PSU in '92, in fact, Swett took his share of ribbing from those in his home state 84 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2012 Swett notched 98 tackles (66 solo) and four interceptions in his four years, overcoming vari- ous injuries that required four surgeries. PHOTO COURTESY U-M SPORTS INFORMATION when the Nittany Lions ran the table in 1994, including a victory at Michi- gan in Swett's redshirt freshman year. U-M had encountered four consecu- tive four-loss seasons by 1997, and most didn't give the Wolverines a shot to be much better that season. Calling Swett a Pennsylvania boy, though, would have been a stretch. The prep All-American, a two-way standout who also played fullback at Central Bucks West High School, had spent several years in Virginia before moving to southeast Michigan as a 12-year-old, where he fell in love with Michigan in his formative years. Though Swett and his family left for the Keystone State two years later when his father's job demanded, his love for Michigan didn't disappear. "When we drove into the state of Michigan [from Virginia], Michi- gan Stadium was the first place we stopped," Swett recalled. "Before we even went to the new house, we went to the stadium. I was down there running around for literally an hour, just kind of in awe, looking around thinking, 'Wow — how can this many people come to a football game?' "In the time we were here, we had some neighbors that had season tick- ets, so we got to come to one or two games each year. That really kind of planted the seed." Paterno, though, wasn't willing to let him get away without a fight. Shortly after Swett informed the PSU staff he'd committed to Michigan on his Ann Arbor visit, Paterno let him know he'd be at his house shortly. "He was there for almost two hours," Swett recalled. "But at the end of it, he stood up and shook my hand and gave me a pat on the back. He said, 'You know what? It sounds like you've covered your bases, made your decision on all of the important hortly after his senior year in high school, former Michigan line-