Swann Earns Bushnell Cup as Ivy League Defensive MVP

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League and the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) today announced the winners of the Asa S. Bushnell Cup, which honors the Ivy League Football Players of the Year, and Dartmouth cornerback Isiah Swann earned the defensive honor while Princeton quarterback John Lovett took home the offensive award. The announcement was made at a special reception and press conference presented by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses in the Mercury Ballroom of the New York Hilton Midtown this afternoon.

A finalist for the STATS Buck Buchanan Award for the National Defensive Player of the Year, unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection and All-New England pick, Swann proved to be one of the top cover men in the country, leading the nation with nine interceptions to set a new Dartmouth single-season record. He also broke up nine other passes to rank third among FCS players with 1.8 passes defended per game.

"To be a Bushnell winner, it's an unbelievable feeling. I was here as a freshman when [former teammate] Flo [Orimolade] won it, and just looking back on it, I couldn't help but envision myself being up there in his place. It was only something that I dreamed of. I never thought that something like this could happen, that I could have a season like this past one."

Swann, a product of Chandler High School out of Queen Creek, Arizona, twice was chosen as the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week during the 2018 campaign, following victories over Georgetown and Holy Cross, against the latter of which he registered three interceptions to become the first Big Green player to do so in 28 years. The 6-0, 190-pound cornerback also recorded 39 tackles, recovered a fumble and returned one of his interceptions 54 yards for a touchown in a 41-18 triumph at Yale.

Swann will enter his senior year having played in every Dartmouth contest in his career with 110 tackles, two for a loss with a sack, 13 interceptions (tied for the program record) and 21 passes broken up for a total of 34 passes defended.

"Isiah has been the embodiment of what an Ivy League football player should be," said Buddy Teevens, Dartmouth's Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach. "His skill set on the field is obvious, but his mentorship, leadership and compassion, as well as his understanding with our squad and our community makes him something special. I am very, very proud of him, very happy for him, and he will be one of the most appreciative guys of an award like this."

The Big Green have had the defensive honoree twice in the last three years with Orimolade taking home the prize in 2016. First awarded in 1970 and split into an offensive and defensive component in 2011, the Bushnell Cup has been bestowed on a Dartmouth player eight times.

Six of the eight Big Green selections have been associated with Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Dartmouth Football Coach. Teevens won the honor himself as the Big Green quarterback in 1978, then he was the head coach for five other Bushnell Cup winners — RB Shon Page (1990), RB Al Rosier (1991), RB Nick Schwieger (2010), Orimolade and Swann. Dartmouth also had the very first winner of the award in QB Jim Chasey (1970) when Dartmouth took home the Lambert Trophy as the top team from the East, as well as QB Jay Fiedler (1992) who had a nine-year career in the NFL (plus was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year for Coach Teevens in 1991).

Swann also had some final words for the audience. "I still am a junior. I'll be back another season. Coach Teevens and I have some unfinished business. I look forward to competing for an Ivy League title."

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