Anthony Schwartz, who set American U-18 record in 100-meter dash, goes to Browns in Draft
Anthony Schwartz took a detour from his realistic Olympic dreams to chase a football career. Now he’s headed to the NFL.
The Cleveland Browns selected Schwartz with the 28th pick of the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft on Friday -- No. 91 -- to keep Plantation American Heritage on track for a likely historic Draft weekend.
Schwartz is the third player from American Heritage to be selected already in the 2021 Draft, and Patriots coach Patrick Surtain expects four more to go throughout Friday and Saturday. The current record for players drafted from a single high school in one year is four, held by Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, Miami Northwestern and Bradenton IMG Academy.
He’s also the ninth player from South Florida selected and the seventh from Broward County.
Schwartz’s Draft stock mostly hinged on his prodigious speed, which made him a productive wide receiver for three years for the Auburn Tigers. As a junior, the 6-foot, 179-pound receiver caught 54 passes for 636 yards and three touchdowns to finish his career with nearly 1,500 receiving yards. While football was always his first sport, he fell into track and field as he got older, and became one of the best youth sprinters of all time.
In 2017, Schwartz, just 16 at the time, ran a 100-meter dash in 10.15 seconds at the Florida Relays in Gainesville to set an American under-18 record. The mark still stands more than four years later.
Later in the year, Schwartz won gold in the 400 relay at the 2017 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships, then he won gold again in the same event at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships. He also won silver in the 100 at the 2018 World Championships and gold at the USA Junior Championships. He was on the fast track to the Summer Olympic Games.
Instead, he decided to balance his two loves. He was a four-star recruit, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and went to Auburn because the Tigers offered him the opportunity to compete in both football and track. He ran for one year in Auburn and finished sixth in the Southeastern Conference in the 100, but the COVID-19 pandemic a potential sophomore season and Schwartz shifted his full focus to football.
He knew some team would fall in love with his speed and make him a mid-round selection. The Browns are getting likely the fastest player in the Draft.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 11:04 PM.
