Jesse Schwartzman was touted as the goalie of the future when the Denver Outlaws drafted him from Johns Hopkins in May 2007. That future arrived at warp speed, however, when all-star Trevor Tierney was sidelined by a concussion last season. That issue prompted Tierney to retire after the Major League Lacrosse season ended, moving Schwartzman, 22, into the hot seat.
Although the Owings Mills, Md., native was tested earlier than expected, his two NCAA championships, including most outstanding player performances in both title games, prepared him for the challenge.
Bolstered by a 13.2 goals-against average, fourth best in the MLL, Schwartzman was his usual chatty self leading up to Saturday’s game against the Chicago Machine at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Q: How did you become a goalie?
A: I have an older brother, Andrew. He was an attackman. I wanted to be like him, so I started out as an attackman. But then he wanted someone to shoot on and beat up a little bit, and he threw me in the goal.
Q: How old were you?
A: I was in sixth grade.
Q: There weren’t any second thoughts after you got a few welts?
A: Not really, except for my mom. She was a little worried, but she’s grown out of it.
Q: How bruised up are you?
A: In college it was a lot worse. You played every day for about three hours. Now I’m bad on Sundays and Mondays. I’m sore. And then, they kind of heal. I usually get three or four welts a game.
Q: Do you get massages and ice baths?
A: Ice bags, and then ultrasound or ice therapy to heal them.
Q: Have you heard about the new show on ABC called “Hopkins”?
A: I heard about that watching Game 1 of the NBA Finals. They had a commercial for that. I didn’t know anything about it. It should be very interesting. I’m not really into that sort of TV, but I’m definitely going to watch.
Q: Did you go to class with any pre-med students?
A: I took a nutrition class at one of the intercessions down at the School of Medicine, so I saw a lot of pre-med kids there.
Q: When they say, “Don’t quit your day job” in pro lacrosse, they really mean it. What do you do Monday through Friday?
A: I work in sales for Warrior Lacrosse. I sell apparel from Pennsylvania down to Florida. And I just got hired by Warrior to be in the Players Club. So I’m very excited about that opportunity. Great, great players in lacrosse are part of that team, so that’s pretty cool to be one of them.
Q: Is that an endorsement deal?
A: Yes, it is.
Q: With all that travel in sales, plus travel for road games and home games, I would imagine you don’t let any airlines check that (goalie) stick, right?
A: I give my stick every game to Chad (Olson), so I trust Chad. He’s our equipment guy. The goalie stick is too big to fit in the bag, so instead of traveling back and forth with it and unscrewing it and all that stuff, I let Chad take care of it. And so far, so good.
Q: What’s the biggest adjustment to the pro game?
A: Every player is a threat. Every player is an All-American who can shoot it 95 miles per hour and put it in the corner.
Top five saves
Jesse Schwartzman lists the most memorable stops in his career:
•Against Duke, in the 2007 national championship game, with nine seconds left.
•Playing against my brother when I was a freshman at Hopkins and he was a junior at Maryland. He was on a clear breakaway.
•Against Virginia in the Final Four semifinals. In overtime, I made a big save and, soon after, we won.
•Against Syracuse as a sophomore, I made a save on Brett Bucktooth from about 10 yards.
•In Chicago, last year as an Outlaw. I was the Bud Light MVP as a rookie in my first-ever game. I made 16 saves and gave up nine goals. All 16 were special.
