At 25, Swafford Catches On at California

Derek Swafford had a five-year plan after graduating from Ventura High in 1993:

Make it to the big leagues or go back to school.

“I was really high on education [out of high school],” said Swafford, a two-sport star at Ventura.

Almost like clockwork, the 25-year-old sophomore is back in school and set to embark on a second career.

Swafford has traded ground balls and bats for passes and books as he prepares for his first season of college football as a wide receiver for California.

“I’m here to shock the world this year,” said Swafford, believed to be the oldest player in the Pacific-10 Conference. “You don’t even understand how excited I am.”

After toiling in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class-A ranks for five years, Swafford, a second baseman, said a knee injury forced him to reluctantly abandon baseball.

“I feel like if I wouldn’t have gotten hurt, I’d be on TV right now,” said Swafford, whose best season was in 1996 when he hit .259 with 35 stolen bases in the Carolina League. Defensively, though, he was prone to errors.

Swafford, 5 feet 10 and 180 pounds, tried to resume his baseball career with the Pirates after his 1997 injury but was released in the spring of 1998.

The rehabilitation period gave the third-round draft pick time to reflect on what might have been had he accepted a football scholarship to Northwestern instead of a $114,000 signing bonus and $56,000 provision for college from the Pirates.

“I was gung-ho for education,” Swafford said. “By the time that I had gotten hurt [in baseball], I figured I would have already had an education, a degree and the opportunity to go to the Rose Bowl.”

After a hamstring injury foiled a last-ditch effort to keep playing baseball for the Oxnard-based Pacific Suns in the independent Western League in April 1998, Swafford hung up his spikes.

A couple months later, he was a student again, this time at Ventura College. He was just as determined to succeed in the classroom as he had as a baseball and football player at Ventura High.

“I devoted all my time to reading and getting papers done early just to make sure I did the best job possible,” he said.

When he wasn’t studying, Swafford was in the weight room or on the track, strengthening his surgically repaired left knee for a comeback--in football.

In the spring of 1999, Swafford ran track for Ventura College, competing in the 100 and 200 meters and 400 relay.

His goal was to regain the speed and strength that made him one of the region’s top football recruits in 1992, after three 1,000-yard rushing seasons as a running back.

Last fall, Swafford donned football pads for the first time since rushing for 1,193 yards, 18 touchdowns and averaging 9.6 yards a carry as a senior in high school.

Although Swafford was excited to show what he could do as a receiver, he was unhappy with his limited role.

After making five catches for 230 yards in the first five games, Swafford quit.

“It started to dawn on me that I’m out here breaking my butt and [passes] never materialized,” he said.

Swafford thought his abrupt departure would cost him any chance of playing Division I football.

He began making contact with college coaches, but had no offers after a few months. So Swafford made plans to move to Sacramento to live with his father, play another year of junior college football and try the Division I ranks the following year.

Then, in mid-January, Swafford made contact with Randy Stewart, Cal’s recruiting coordinator, through a mutual acquaintance.

Stewart, who grew up in Camarillo and played football at Moorpark College, remembered Swafford from high school.

“He’s a name that a lot of people knew,” Stewart said.

When Stewart found out Swafford was eligible to transfer and had three years of eligibility, the coach was sold.

Cal endured a 3-8 season in 1999, finishing with the last-ranked offense in the Pac-10. The receiver position was the weakest link.

A day after their first phone conversation, Stewart was sitting in Swafford’s living room, watching seven-year-old game films.

“As soon as [his name] came up, he was a main priority because you don’t find that many JC guys who are [academically] ready to transfer mid-year,” Stewart said. “Our pool was very small.”

Within a week, Swafford was living in Berkeley and hustling around to fill his spring course schedule.

Ken Margerum, Cal’s receivers coach, said Swafford has shown steady and marked improvement since the first day of spring drills.

“He ended up the spring as one of the top receivers here,” Margerum said. “He’ll be playing a lot of football here this year.

“He’s low to the ground and has great change of direction. He’s like a Troy Walters-type guy at Stanford. You get the ball in his hands and let him make something happen.”

Swafford’s age and maturity were other factors that prompted Cal to sign him to a letter of intent.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders and he has his life squared away,” Margerum said. “He sets a good example for the freshmen who come in here at 17 and 18 years old.”

No one is letting Swafford forget he is much older than the average college player.

“These kids go hard, for sure,” Swafford said. “But sometimes I think I have the edge because I’m a die-hard.

“They always call me ‘Granddaddy D.’ But I don’t mind. This old man is still doing it.”