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UConn Legend - Football Multidimensional Talent....Ken Sweitzer

The name Sweitzer is not only synonyms with Hand High School Football in Madison. Where of the schools 11 state titles, a Sweitzer has been a part of 6 of them....When the Tigers won back to back Class M Titles in 1976 and 1977, the second brother was part of both of them. That would be Ken and he was primarily a running back and quarterback while older brother Rick was an offensive tackle. Larry Ciotti, then the Hand Head Coach was a big fan of Ken..."If it was a close game, he just ,had a knack, mostly his confidence, determination and his athletic ability to make the play and help us win." Ciotti, who later was the RB Coach at Yale, believes Ken was the bast of all the Sweitzers.

Ken decided to stay in state and play for the Huskies....He started as the third string QB, but on opening day against Northeastern, as Ken recalls it, "Two receivers collided (and injured) so I started the game at Wide Receiver." He had four catches and a touchdown in the 21-19 win over Northeastern...and Ken "never left the field." Sweitzer, by mid season wa now the quarterback..On a homecoming day rout of Maine, Sweitzer ran in for a pair of TD's in the 49-7 win...Walt Nadzak had a lot of youth on offense and there were growing pains...But the Huskies went 3-2 in their last 5 to salvage a 4-7 season. Kenny with a 63y QB sneak up the middle to stun BU..541y passing with 5 TD's and 6 int, led the team with 18 catches and 3 TD and he ran for 5 more...

Kenny was a key component heading into 1979. But a brutal opening schedule didn't help...At Army, Navy and Yale to open the season where the Huskies were 0-3 and Sweitzer was ailing...and when he returned to the lineup on October 20th at Maine, he was a flanker who caught two balls in a 19-7 win...Again the Huskies struggled to a 3-6-2 record...But as a wideout, Sweitzer was named to his first All Yankee Conference Team.

As the Huskies vaulted into 1980, so did a new, wishbone offense where Sweitzer would play a key role back at quarterback. Finding favorite target Reggie Eccleston for a pair of TD's in their opening day 20-10 win at New Hampshire...followed by a big offensive day as a team...530 yards in a rout of Bucknell where he was 12/19 a two more TD passes..The Huskies were 3-0 for the first time since 1940 where Yale awaited...But Rich Diana was too much to handle in a 20-10 Eli win...The following week, Sweitzer led a second half comeback in a 24-21 win over Colgate...Ken 17/31 for 239y and a TD..and he ran for two more to earn the ECAC Offensive Player of the Week and a 4-1 start..Now a trip to Worcester and Holy Cross, a place they had never won at 0-13-1...But down 17-10 with 1:19 left, Sweitzer and the Huskies marched 69 yards and converted on a pair of 4th downs to find the end zone...Sweitzer hitting Tight End Ken Miller in the end zone with no time left to make it 17-16....Coach Walt Nadzak and the team agreed, we want to beat them...Going for two was the only option. And Sweitzer hit Split End Keith Hugger for the game winning score and an 18-17 victory. And the October stretch of last minute wins continued on a rainy, windy day against Maine as Sweitzer led the Huskies 87 yards...including a pair of 30 yard passes to Eccleston before hitting HB Joe Markus for the tying TD with 36 seconds remaining...After losses to UMass and BU, UConn routed rival Rhode Island 56-30. Not only did Sweitzer set a New England University Division of 2,423 total yards...his wideout Reggie Eccleston caught 9 passes for 229 yards and 4 TD's....leading the University Division Record for yards receiving at 1,181....Sweitzer, named All Yankee Conference w Eccleston, who was also named a first team All American, set the school record in plays run with 425...Sweitzer was named an Honorable Mention All American for his efforts in a 7-3 season for the Huskies where Sweitzer was second in total offense with 243.3 yards per game. It was only the third time they won seven or more games in program history.

1981 presented new challenges for the Huskies and replacing All Conference Talent...Sweitzer did his part by adding "punter" to his resume....Without a shoe. But the QB took of care of business first at Bucknell...Two TD passes and another 57 yards rushing in a 27-7 win...In the home opener, the Huskies beat Northeastern 31-3 in the rain...Sweitzer became the school's total yards leader at 3,984 with 66y rushing and another 164 passing...Yale got the best of the Huskies again and it started a three game slide with narrow losses to New Hampshire and Lehigh...It looked as if the skid would go to four down 17-0 at home to Holy Cross...But the Huskies reeled off 31 unanswered points in a 44-24 win..Sweitzer 232y passing and another 75 on the ground....At Maine, Sweitzer tied the school passing TD record at 31 and became the schools' all time leading passer in yards at 4,184yds...The season ended with a four game slide and the injuries mounted, including Sweitzer. Who severely injured an ankle in the finale against Delaware. Sweitzer set the school record with 2190 yards passing and 15 TD's....in all Sweitzer ran 433 plays and 2,571 yds of total offense and accounted for 20 TD. Not only earning him All Yankee Conference Honors as a Quarterback, but he was also an All Conference Selection as a punter as well..How many players have earned All Conference Honors at three different positions in their career ?? Sweitzer again was a I-AA Honorable Mention All American for his efforts....

His numbers today still among the UConn Top 10 in 10 different categories....Including Total Offense (5th), Total Plays (4th), Pass Attempts (6th), completions (6th), Net Yards Passing (6th) and still 4th in TD passes thrown....After spending the summer of 1982 in Cowboys Camp, Ken Sweitzer settled down back in Connecticut, married his wife Cari, who grew up across the street from Ken in Madison....They have three kids and he runs Sweitzer Insurance LLC. And in 2017 and 2018, he even was the sideline reporter for the UConn Sports Network from Learfield IMG College....Ken Sweitzer a multi-talented football talent and a UConn Legend....


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