“I Owe A Lot To My Upbringing.”
Middletown is a city of about 50,000 people and sits about an hour north of Cincinnati. Besides Schwarber, the city has also produced famous athletes such as Jerry Lucas, Cris Carter, and Todd Bell. Chances are you’ve never heard of Todd Bell but if you’re a true Chicago Bear fan you probably know him. He played with the Bears from 1981-1984 before he decided he was going to sit out of the 1985 season due to a contract dispute. As we all know, the Bears went on to win the Superbowl that year and because he was a greedy guy, Bell missed out on being part of the most dominant defense in NFL history.
Dummy.
Like many cities in the region, Middletown was built on a foundation of using steel as the economic backbone. It’s a city that is still reliant on the industry and it’s biggest employer, AK Steel, sees the importance of keeping the steel industry in Middletown.
“The steel manufacturing industry is critical to Ohio’s economy,” U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown said in a written statement. “AK Steel’s investment in research and innovation will help ensure that Middletown continues to be a hub for advanced steel manufacturing.”
The blue-collar values that came from the steel industry and the values that the city of Middletown was built upon would be the same values that were instilled into Schwarber at a young age.
Growing up, Schwarber was surrounded by individuals who would constantly push him to be better. His father, Greg, was a 32-year police veteran in Middletown and Germantown, Ohio and his mother, Donna, instilled values of hard-work, selflessness, and dedication into the young Schwarber.
And while having great values as a youngster is a good thing, it also doesn’t hurt to have some phenomenal bloodlines either. One uncle, Tom, was a pitcher for Ohio State and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. Uncle Mike, another pitcher, was drafted by the Indians. Uncle Dave didn’t get drafted by anyone however, he did play a little tight end at a pretty good college in Indiana — Notre Dame.
