Education
Schwammel attended Fremont High School in Oakland, California and starred in football. Schwammel chose to enroll at Oregon State for his college education and to play football.
Schwammel attended Fremont High School in Oakland, California and starred in football. Schwammel chose to enroll at Oregon State for his college education and to play football.
He was also chosen to play in the 1934 East-West Shrine Game. Schwammel was one of the key players in the now illegal "Pyramid Play" where the Beavers hoisted 6"7" Clyde Devine atop the shoulders of 6"2" Schwammel and 6"2" teammate Harry Shields in order to block a placekick. The play was first successfully used in a game against the University of Oregon, and a picture of the play published in the Saturday Evening Post brought the team — and the play — national attention, leading to the pyramid technique being banned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association"s rules committee shortly thereafter.
Schwammel played in the NFL for five seasons with the Green Bay Packers, in two separate stints, from 1934–1936 and from 1943–1944, with a gap of seven years for service in World World War World War II
Schwammel was named to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Oregon State University Hall of Fame in 1990, both for his football prowess.
He died in Honolulu, Hawaii in November 1979.
Schwammel was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity during his time at Oregon State.