Sam Sword

Sam Lee-Arthur Sword (born December 9, 1974) is a former American football player.

A native of

AP Poll. He led Michigan in tackles

for three consecutive years, and his 265 solo tackles ranks third in school history.

Sword also played four seasons of professional football as a linebacker and on

special teams in the National Football League (NFL) for the Oakland Raiders in 1999 and for the Indianapolis Colts from 2000 to 2002

. He appeared in 45 NFL games, eight as a starter, and registered 66 tackles.

First-team All-Big Ten (1997)
All-American, 1997(2nd team: AP)
Second-team All-Big Ten (1998)
Oakland Raiders (1999)
Indianapolis Colts (2000–2002)

Early years

Sword was born in

middle linebacker and tight end for the football team, led the 1991 team to a state championship, and received all-state honors. He was later inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame.^[2]

University of Michigan

Sword enrolled at the

inside linebacker in 1995.^[4]

As a sophomore in 1996, Sword started all 12 games at inside linebacker for Michigan.[5] He led the team with 108 tackles, including 72 solo tackles.^[6]

As a junior, Sword started 11 games at inside linebacker for the undefeated

AP Poll.^[7] He had a career-high 13 solo tackles against Notre Dame and was the team's leading tackler (91 tackles, including 69 solo tackles)^[6] on a 1997 squad that led the country in both scoring defense (8.9 points per game) and total defense (206.9 yards per game).^[8] At the end of the season, he was selected by a Midwest media panel as a first-team linebacker on the 1997 All-Big Ten team.^[9]

As a senior in 1998, Sword started 12 games and led the team with 127 tackles, including 93 solo tackles.[6]^[10] He was also selected as a second-team All-Big Ten player by both the conference coaches and media.^[11] He became the second player in Michigan history to lead the team in tackles three consecutive years.^[2] (Erick Anderson led the team in tackles four consecutive years from 1988 to 1991.)

In four years at Michigan, Sword started 39 games and totaled 370 tackles, including 265 solo tackles, five

pass breakups, three fumble recoveries, and one interception.^[6] His 265 solo tackle ranks third in Michigan history behind Jarrett Irons (296) and Erick Anderson (286).^[12] He was named the 1997 and 1998 winner of The Roger Zatkoff

Award as the team's best linebacker.

Professional football

Sword was undrafted in the

special teams player, and started three games at linebacker.^[1]^[2] In four NFL seasons, Sword appeared in 45 games, eight as a starter at linebacker, and recorded 66 tackles and two sacks.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Sam Sword NFL Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Sam Sword". Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
^ "Michigan Football Roster Database". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
^ "1995 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
^ "1996 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". University of Michigan. Retrieved April 13, 2015.(To retrieve Sword's statistics, enter "sword" in the box for the player's last name. To retrieve 1997 season leaders, go to "Games and Totals by Season" and enter 1997, and then enter Display Season Totals.)
^ "1997 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
^ Dave Woolford (August 31, 1998). "The name, the frame, the game: Sam Sword has the whole package". Toledo Blade. p. FB-5.
^ "College Football". Gettysburg Times. December 2, 1997. p. B2.
^ "1998 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
^ "Jansen Highlights Michigan All-Big Ten Award Winners". University of Michigan. November 30, 1998.
^ "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". University of Michigan. Retrieved April 13, 2015.(to retrieve a list of Michigan's all-time leaders in solo tackle, go to the "Individual Statistical Leaders" section and select the drop-downs for "Career", "Defense" and "Tackles")

[PFR-1] "Sam Sword NFL Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[SHOF-2] "Sam Sword". Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[Roster-3] "Michigan Football Roster Database". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[4] "1995 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[5] "1996 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[Stat-6] "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". University of Michigan. Retrieved April 13, 2015.(To retrieve Sword's statistics, enter "sword" in the box for the player's last name. To retrieve 1997 season leaders, go to "Games and Totals by Season" and enter 1997, and then enter Display Season Totals.)

[7] "1997 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[TB-8] Dave Woolford (August 31, 1998). "The name, the frame, the game: Sam Sword has the whole package". Toledo Blade. p. FB-5.

[9] "College Football". Gettysburg Times. December 2, 1997. p. B2.

[10] "1998 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[11] "Jansen Highlights Michigan All-Big Ten Award Winners". University of Michigan. November 30, 1998.

[12] "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". University of Michigan. Retrieved April 13, 2015.(to retrieve a list of Michigan's all-time leaders in solo tackle, go to the "Individual Statistical Leaders" section and select the drop-downs for "Career", "Defense" and "Tackles")

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