Pat Swilling

Pat Swilling

No. 56
Position:	Linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1964-10-25) October 25, 1964
Place of birth:	Toccoa, Georgia
Height:
Weight:
Career information
College:	Georgia Tech
NFL draft:	1986 / Round: 3 / Pick: 60
Career history
New Orleans Saints (1986–1992) Detroit Lions (1993–1994) Oakland Raiders (1995–1998)
Career highlights and awards
5× Pro Bowl (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993) 2× First-Team All-Pro (1991, 1992) 2× Second-Team All-Pro (1989, 1990) NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1991)
Career NFL statistics
Sacks: 107.5 Interceptions: 6 Touchdowns: 1 Player stats at NFL.com
College Football Hall of Fame

Patrick Travis Swilling (born October 25, 1964) is an American former football linebacker in the National Football League. He played for the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders. He earned five Pro Bowl appearances in his NFL career. He served from 2001 to 2004 as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

College career

Swilling played for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Swilling set the NCAA record for sacks in a game, with seven against North Carolina State and the Georgia Tech mark for sacks in a season (15). Voted first-team All-America in 1985, Swilling left Georgia Tech as the all time sack leader and now ranks 5th.

Professional career

The New Orleans Saints fielded fierce defenses in 1991 and 1992, led by one of the best linebacker units in the history of the league. In 1991, Swilling had 17 sacks and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In 1992, linebackers Rickey Jackson, Vaughan Johnson, Sam Mills, and Swilling, also known as the Dome Patrol, all played in the Pro Bowl, and the Saints led the league in quarterback sacks. Despite its tenacious defense, the team lost in the first round each time it made the playoffs.

Swilling was traded to the Detroit Lions in 1993 for draft picks. In order to sign Swilling, Detroit had to "unretire" the legendary Joe Schmidt’s number 56. In his first year with Detroit he made it to his fifth and final Pro Bowl. The Detroit Lions qualified for the playoffs in both of Swillings' seasons with the team, being eliminated each time, in the first round, by the Green Bay Packers. Swilling finished his career with 107.5 sacks.

Swilling lost all six playoff games he played in; no other player in NFL history has more losses without a win.

Personal life

Swilling was a professional bowler from 1986 to 1998. In 2001, he won a special election as a Democrat to the Louisiana House for District 100 in New Orleans. He served for three years with assignments on House Education, Retirement, and Transportation committees. He lost his bid for a full term as representative in the 2003 runoff election to his fellow Democrat Austin Badon, who polled 6,688 votes (53.3 percent) to Swilling's 5,851 (46.7 percent).

He had also expressed an interest in seeking the position of sheriff of Orleans Parish.

On April 30, 2009, Swilling was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. He is currently a real estate developer in New Orleans. His son, Pat Swilling, Jr. received a full-ride scholarship to play basketball at Saint Joseph's University, but left the team and university on February 19, 2011 after being suspended from the team. He spent a year in JUCO playing at the College of Southern Idaho and signed to play at

the University of Tulsa on May 24, 201Zhe also has to other children Bruce Jordan Swilling and Trey Swilling who currently play for Brother Martin2.

External links

• Career Statistics

Political offices
Preceded by Cynthia Willard-Lewis	Louisiana State Representative for District 100 (Orleans Parish) Patrick Travis "Pat" Swilling 2001–2004	Succeeded by Austin Badon