2009 ACC Football Legends: Bob Schweickert, Virginia Tech

Sept. 15, 2009

Bob Schweickert is remembered as a triple-threat All-America quarterback who starred for Virginia Tech in the early 1960s. But even during those days, football wasn’t his top priority.

“I gave my life to the Lord when I was 13 years old, and I’ve tried to live it,” said Schweickert, a retired furniture executive who now devotes his full-time efforts to Knowing Him Ministries. “I’ve tried to be an example to other people. I’ve always felt that if someone wanted to be like me, then I didn’t want to be embarrassed that they did.”

Schweickert is one of the 2009 Dr Pepper Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship Game Legends who will be honored during this year's ACC Football Championship Game weekend. They will appear at the ACC Coaches and Awards Luncheon at noon on Friday, Dec. 4, and will be honored at the "ACC Night of Legends" held at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay on Friday evening. They will also be recognized during ceremonies at Raymond James Stadium for the 5th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship, which kicks off at 8 p.m., Dec. 5 on ESPN.

That isn’t exactly what Schweickert foresaw during his college playing days (1962-64), when he led the Fighting Gobblers’ (another nickname for the Hokies used until the late 1970’s) offense while setting a slew of what were then Southern Conference records. The ACC seemed so close back in those days, but also far away.

“Most of the ACC teams didn’t want anything to do with us,” recalled Schweickert, who now resides in Illinois. “We were one of those teams they were supposed beat, and if they lost, they would be kind of embarrassed about it. But we definitely felt we belonged.”

Growing up in Midlothian, Va., Schweickert wasn’t certain he belonged at Virginia Tech – or any other university for that matter.

“My Dad left home when I was 12, so I was never really pushed in any direction as far as college was concerned,” he said. “We were a very modest family that had very little. We always had a wonderful relationship. We always had food on the table, and we had a little lawn mower to cut the grass.

“But that was about all we had. My brother was two years ahead of me and he went to college, but he had to take odd jobs and borrow money. My mother also had to borrow some money. I thought that since he was already going, I might not get to go.”

That changed when Schweickert emerged as a standout high school quarterback who attracted the interest of over a dozen schools. Virginia Tech and head coach Jerry Claiborne won Schweickert over, and he gave them his commitment in early 1961.

“I told them, ‘I will come, and I will do the best I can – and I hope that is good enough,’ ” Schweickert said. “I went to a small high school and we had 26 players. I did well there, but you never really know what you can do until you step up in competition. But it worked out.”

It worked out rather nicely, both for Schweickert and Tech. Schweickert completed his three-year varsity career with 3,448 total yards (1,723 rushing and 1,725 passing). He still ranks among the school’s top 20 in each category. He accounted for 40 touchdowns (21 rushing, 18 passing and one 82-yard punt return).

A true triple-threat, Schweickert also won games with his foot – including a 20-11 upset win over Florida State his senior year that helped define his legacy. His punts that day included beauties of 65, 58 and 51 yards that kept the Seminoles backed up most of the afternoon.

Schweickert recalled missing five games due to a shoulder injury his sophomore year, then returning to deliver a 74-yard touchdown run that helped seal a 24-22 win at Tulane.

“As I was going down the sidelines, believe it or not, I got tears in my eyes,” Schweickert said. “It meant so much to me to be back playing as the starting quarterback, and was just emotional as it hit me: “I am going to score a touchdown, and we are going to win this game.’”

With Schweickert and fullback Sonny Utz providing the inside-outside punch, the Fighting Gobblers posted a cumulative record of 19-11 during his years with the varsity.

“We had about 50 players, and the largest was 280 pounds,” Schweickert said. “But we had a good little team, and we had great spirit. That was Coach Claiborne’s strength. He took a group of people who were average, and he made them above average because of the desire he put into them.”

Schweickert remembered falling asleep in his dorm room one afternoon and awaking at 2 p.m. – the exact time Claiborne had scheduled a quarterbacks meeting.

“My heart sank,” Schweickert said. “I remember running down those steps and into that building next door. I walked in the room at 2:02.”

Schweickert’s tardiness resulted in Claiborne’s stern order to remain after practice. Claiborne positioned himself at one goal-line, assistant coach John Shelton at the other.

“We will take turns blowing the whistle, and you will run a 100-yard dash after each one,” Claiborne announced.

Schweickert started out intent on proving he could run longer than either coach could blow his whistle. He soon learned that would be an impossible task.

“They pushed me to my limit and, finally, down I went,” he chuckled. “But did I remember being late for that meeting? You betcha. I was never late for anything in my life again.”

Schweickert and Utz combined for over 6,000 yards of total offense at Tech, but Schweickert particularly remembers the day Utz tooled up on a motorcycle and invited him to take a ride.

“I had never ridden a motorcycle before in my life,” Schweickert said. “But I hopped on the back of that thing – I think it was a Honda 250 – and here go Mr. Inside and Outside down the main street out of Blacksburg at 80 miles an hour. It didn’t even dawn on us that we could wipe out our entire backfield with one fell swoop.

“I don’t think Coach Claiborne ever found out about that.”

Following graduation from Virginia Tech, Schweickert played two seasons with the New York Jets, where he earned the nickname, “Mother” from his teammates.

“I didn’t drink with guys, and I didn’t chase the gals and we didn’t do any drugs,” Schweickert said. “I was kind of a mom to them, the one who always got them in on time and tried to keep them from doing things they shouldn’t be doing.”

Schweickert built a successful career in the furniture business, but his true calling beckoned. He began a ministry in the 1980s with his first wife, Gayle, a former Miss Virginia runner-up who wowed crowds with her singing voice. They had been married 32 years when breast cancer claimed Gayle’s life, but Schweickert looks back with loving memories.

“She lost that particular battle, but in the scope of things she has life eternal,” Schweickert said.

He remarried several years later and his current wife, Georganne, is also his full partner in ministry work. Schweickert spent 38 years in the furniture business before retiring in 2003.

“I couldn’t do that and the ministry, too, and the ministry was more important, so we decided to buckle down and get to work,” Schweickert said.

Schweickert was making a difference long before that. A number of years ago, his mother-in-law reported meeting a man who had attended a football camp with Schweickert as a teenager.

“He told my mother-in-law that he changed his life because of what I said and what I did at that football camp,” Schweickert said. “I realized then the impact I might have on people.

“I’m not a saint, but I’ve tried all my life to be a leader.”