Gene Swick Gene Swick ( born c . 1955 ) is an American former football player . He played college football as a quarterback for the University of Toledo from 1972 to 1975 , and the Cleveland Browns selected Swick in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL Draft , but subsequently waived him during camp . In 1975 , he set the NCAA Division I record with 8 , 074 career yards , which broke the previous record held by Jim Plunkett of Stanford and stood until surpassed by Mark Herrmann of Purdue in 1980 . Early life . He was born the son of a minister , Jack Swick , in Licking County , Ohio . His family moved often , and he attended Millersport High School and Oak Hill High School each for one year , and Hebron Lakewood High School for his final two years . Swick chose to attend the University of Toledo to play college football because they ran a pass - oriented offense , which many larger schools such as Ohio State did not at the time . He said he received interest from Woody Hayes ' Ohio State coaching staff , but that he did not wish to hand off the ball to a running back . Swick described Toledo ' s offense as often using four - receiver sets and eschewing short passing game in favor of attempts of ten yards or more . College career . At the University of Toledo , Swick played on the football team from 1972 to 1975 , and earned varsity letters in each of his last three seasons . The Mid - American Conference named Swick to the All - MAC first team in 1973 , 1974 , and 1975 . The league selected him as the MAC Back of the Year in 1974 and 1975 . In November 1974 , the Associated Press called Swick the " hardest - working quarterback in the country with 44 . 6 rushing - passing plays per game . " In 1975 , Swick led the nation in total offensive yards with 2 , 706 . He finished as the runner - up in completions with 17 . 3 per game , and passed for 15 touchdown s and rushed for eight more . In the final game of his collegiate career against , Swick became the first player to record more than 8 , 000 career yards . His final career mark was 8 , 074 yards of total offense . He broke the former record of 7 , 887 yards held by Jim Plunkett of Stanford ( 1968 – 1970 ) . Swick ' s benchmark was in turn surpassed in 1980 by Mark Herrmann of Purdue ( 1977 – 1980 ) . Over the course of his collegiate career , Swick set numerous University of Toledo records for passing and offense . The United Press International named Swick to its 1975 All - America first team , which makes him the only MAC quarterback to ever earn that honor from a major wire service . The Touchdown Club of Columbus awarded him the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation ' s best passer , and " Football Roundup " magazine selected him as the Offensive Player of the Year . He finished tenth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy . Swick played in the Senior Bowl for the North squad , and the East – West Shrine Game for the East squad . Professional career . Before the 1975 season , Swick had been considered a prospective first - round selection in the NFL Draft according to " The Chicago Tribune " . However , in the 1976 NFL Draft , Swick was not selected until the fourth round , where he was chosen with the 97th overall pick by the Cleveland Browns . The Associated Press wrote , " As advertised , it was emphatically not the year of the quarterback . Except for the Jets ' selection of Todd , the passers were pretty much ignored . " Accurate passer Mike Cruszek of Boston College was the second quarterback selected , despite not being a " name " player . Thus , touted quarterbacks Swick and Craig Penrose of San Diego State both fell to the fourth round . The Browns signed Swick , alongside former Purdue quarterback Craig Nagel , in May 1976 . His bonus was reported to be $ 20 , 000 . Swick attended camp with a sore throwing arm , which reportedly hampered his performance . He said , " I didn ' t want to tell anybody because it would look like I was making excuses for myself . But it has come back strong now . I ' m ready . " During a summer scrimmage , he had a mediocre performance in which he completed six of 14 pass attempts for 44 yards and threw two interception s . The franchise subsequently released Swick in July . He said , " There ' s not much I can say except I think they made a mistake . I ' ll just have to think over what my future in football might be . I haven ' t any complaint . They were good to me here , and I had the same opportunity as anyone else . " His agent contacted several unnamed NFL teams with quarterback needs to secure another roster spot . In August , he attended tryouts with the New York Giants , and had a " two - year , no - cut contract " with the Hamilton Tiger - Cats of the Canadian Football League . However , Swick said he did not like the style of play in Canada , and decided instead to enter business . Later life . After his playing career , Swick entered the manufacturing industry , in which he continued to work as of 2008 . He resided in Buckeye Lake , Ohio , where he is self - employed . Swick has been inducted into the University of Toledo ' s Varsity ' T ' Hall of Fame , and the Hebron Lakewood High School Hall of Fame . The University of Toledo record for career passing yards set by Swick was finally broken by Bruce Gradkowski in 2005 . Swick remained the last Toledo player drafted into the NFL until Tampa Bay picked Gradkowski in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft .