Former Texas tight end hopes to catch on … again

By Steve Lansdale

IRVING, Texas — When the NFL Draft rolls around every spring, many of the players teams will select are easy to identify: the quarterbacks and running backs who put up thousands of yards and enough touchdowns to claim all-conference honors and perhaps make a run at postseason awards, the offensive linemen who combine the size of a redwood tree with the long arms and mobility of a dancer, or the pass rusher who has the burst to shoot into the backfield so quickly it appears he just might intercept a shotgun snap.

Draft choices often — but not always — tend to follow college production. Because of that, more than a few eyebrows were raised when the Dallas Cowboys, who had made their final selection in the 2015 draft, traded a future draft pick to the San Francisco 49ers in order to get an additional seventh-round pick, with which they selected Texas tight end Geoff Swaim. It is not uncommon for NFL teams to notice a 6-foot-4-inch, 250-pound tight end who is considered an above-average blocker and whose athleticism merits an invitation to the NFL Combine; Swaim fits that description.

However, to trade for the chance to select a tight end who caught all of 13 passes for a total of 84 yards and a touchdown over a two-year college career (Swaim arrived at UT after transferring from Butte College in California) is anything but common. But that’s exactly what the Cowboys did, and Swaim [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]made the most of his opportunity, defying conventional logic by making a team that already boasted future Hall of Famer Jason Witten, as well as talented youngsters Gavin Escobar and James Hanna at tight end.

Swaim made the Dallas roster, played in four games last year and earned his first NFL start against the Philadelphia Eagles. This year, he faces another battle for a roster spot on a team that also drafted former Baylor basketball player Rico Gathers and signed Wisconsin’s Austin Traylor as an undrafted free agent. Witten, of course, is a lock to make the team. Escobar is a former second-round draft pick who is entering the final year of the contract he signed as a rookie, but carries a heftier price tag (Escobar is owed nearly $980,000 this season) than Swaim, who is scheduled to make $525,000 in the second year of his four-year deal. So barring an injury that would shuffle the team’s depth chart at the position, Swaim might have to beat out Traylor and either Hanna or Gathers to retain his spot.

Like all NFL teams, the Cowboys are holding their first round of “organized team activities” (OTAs), and Swaim visited with hornsillustrated.com to discuss his approach to the upcoming season.

Horns Illustrated: The Cowboys carried four tight ends most of the time last year, including you, but now that tight ends meeting room is a little more crowded after they drafted Rico Gathers (and also signed undrafted free agent Austin Traylor of Wisconsin). With that extra competition for roster spots, what’s your outlook going into OTAs and training camp?

Geoff Swaim: I don’t think my approach changes — I don’t think it should. My approach will always be that I’m kind of on the chopping block, in a sense, to keep me motivated. So my approach hasn’t changed in that regard.

My chances are as good as ever, you know? (Gathers’) chances are good, my chances are good, everyone’s chances are good. So I don’t try to get into that, the numbers, too much, because it kind of distracts me from what I need to focus on. I just spend my time worrying about what I can worry about. The numbers, and that stuff … hey, there’s a long way to go, and that stuff takes care of itself. So I try not to think about that stuff too much, and just focus on what I can do to … first and foremost, help this team, because if I can help this team, that helps me.

Horns Illustrated: You have been here before. You have been through the process of competing for a roster spot, you have worn the jersey, you have played in NFL games. Does it feel different this time around?

Swaim: Yeah — in some sense, it does. I think the comfortability with your role … not necessarily your role, but your activities during the day, your schedule — that kind of stuff is more familiar, so it makes it a little easier to know what’s expected of you.

I just remember last year, at this time, it was a little more nerve-racking, just because I had no idea what to expect and there were some nerves and stuff like that. There’s always nerves when you’re playing ball, but in terms of your daily approach, and how you work, and that kind of thing, that should never waver. I don’t think it does for me, so it makes it a little easier to take it day by day.

Horns Illustrated: Being older and more mature, is this any different than when you were trying to work your way up the depth chart at Texas?

Swaim: Yeah, I would say so. One thing is just the maturity — my first year in junior college, I was only 17, so when I left Texas I was still only 20. So I think a portion of that is just maturity, and as you get older, hopefully you mature with age. I don’t know that everyone does, but hopefully you do.

I like to think I have matured as I’ve gotten older. It has helped me prepare better and play better, as well as just be comfortable, know how to take criticism and have the right approach to the game. Check your ego at the door — that kind of stuff. Maturity definitely helps with that kind of thing.

Horns Illustrated: Some players, in the early years of their professional careers, say that football is still fun because it’s a game, while others have said they sense an immediate transition from playing a game to being part of a business. How fun is football for you, now that it’s a job?

Swaim: Oh, it’s still fun. I don’t think many guys would do this with the hopes of doing it a long time if they didn’t have fun. There are some guys who do it knowing “I have an end goal: I want to get money and get out.” But if that’s your goal, you’re going to have a harder time staying dedicated. For me, it’s easy to stay dedicated because I’m doing something I love to do, and something that a couple of years ago I was doing for free.

That, in itself, is motivating, and it really comes down to “do you like playing football?” I think everyone in here likes playing football. You know, you don’t make it very far if you don’t. So yeah, it’s still fun.

Horns Illustrated: Do you see your spot on this roster as a battle between you and Rico Gathers? Or is it Jason Witten, and then all of the rest of you are competing? Or is that an unfair way of putting it?

Swaim: Well, I don’t know that it’s unfair, but by the same token, I don’t know that I know who is competing with who. In reality, I’m competing with 53 guys, with 90 guys … with everyone, for a spot. Yeah, you’re competing with the other tight ends, because they’re in the same room as you. We’re all fighting for jobs, but I don’t think you want to take that approach, that “I’m trying to beat this guy.” I take the approach that I’m trying to get better, I’m trying to help the team, knowing that if I do the things that will help the team, that will help me.

So I really don’t think about it like that, and that’s being honest. I think about “how can I get better today? How can I help this team? What can I do to make myself more valuable?”

Horns Illustrated: What are the biggest differences — other than the fact that you’re not going to classes — between OTAs or mini-camps and spring practices at Texas?

Swaim: Outside of the class thing, it probably would just be how professional it is. You’re expected to be a pro all the time, and that’s something I really like, because it allows me to be who I am, and I like to think of myself as a professional person. In college, there’s a lot more babysitting. There’s no babysitting at this level — you either do your job, or you’re not going to have one.

That helps me, I think, because I like that kind of approach. Be accountable and do your job, and you don’t look over your shoulder to see who’s watching, because you’re doing what you’re supposed to do.

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