BILLINGS — Townsend's Dawson Sweat was awful tough for opposing defenses to bring down throughout his career. Maybe it's because he's been carrying someone else with him nearly his whole life.
"I actually wear this pendant. He passed away when he was eight months old and I was about a year-and-a-half," Sweat said of his younger brother. "I was a little older than he was. Lost him growing up. Obviously, I didn't know him all that much, but carrying that burden of just what could have been. Definitely have thought about that a lot and I could be sharing the field with him right now."
Sweat pays homage to both siblings out on the gridiron, wearing the No. 32 for his older brother. Family tops everything for Sweat, who endured a little more hardship about a decade ago.
"I was without my mom until I was about 14 and then she came back into my life. My dad's in the picture, so I have both of them," Sweat said. "It means a lot that they're both there supporting me in everything I do."
Sweat won four state track and field titles this spring and will run next year for MSUB, so this is the last time he straps on the shoulder pads and helmet. And you know who he'll have on his mind.
"The No. 32 means a lot to me. I see it everywhere and it makes me smile. It's my last football game, so I'll give it all I got and leave it out there on the field," Sweat said.
