David Schwarz (footballer)


David Schwarz is a former Australian rules footballer, who retired in 2002, after playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League, for 12 seasons.

Football career

Recruited from Sunbury, Schwarz made his AFL debut in 1991. As a player for the Melbourne Football Club, he was known as "the Ox" for his beast-like build. He played centre half-forward or full-forward and in 1994 kicked nine goals straight against Sydney and with some breathtaking finals performances. Strong marking, agile and athletic, until he suffered numerous knee injuries, playing only two games in 1995 and missing the entire 1996 season.
Schwarz resumed playing in 1997 at a weight of, which was above the weight he subsequently carried in 2000. He capped his effort by winning the club’s best and fairest in 1999 and passing the 100 game mark – something that was unthinkable a few years earlier when knee injuries left his career in tatters. In typical style he celebrated with 20 of his closest mates and his mother, who had brought him up single handed since the age of eight. His father had been murdered.
Late in his playing career, he appeared as a panelist on the AFL Footy Show in a memorable show where Sam Newman threw a pie in his face. A visibly angry Schwarz pushed Newman down to the ground.
He retired in the middle of 2002 having played 173 matches and kicking 244 goals.

Playing Statistics

Led the league after season and finals

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1991
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1992
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1993
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1994
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1995
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1996
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1997
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1998
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1999
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2000
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2001
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2002
! colspan=3| Career
! 173
! 243
! 162
! 1589
! 822
! 2411
! 807
! 248
! 1.4
! 0.9
! 9.2
! 4.8
! 13.9
! 4.7
! 1.4

Media career

[SEN 1116]

In 2005, in his job on radio station SEN 1116, he admitted that during his football career he had a gambling problem and whittled away most of his income. He hosted "The Run Home" on SEN from 3–7 pm weekdays with Mark Allen until 8 December 2017.

[Macquarie [Sports Radio 954]]

In 2018, Schwartz joined Macquarie sports radio alongside Mark Allen to host the drive slot after their dismissals from Sen. On 1 November 2019 the pair concluded their term at MSR as the station's entire line-up was axed.

Channel Seven">Seven Network">Channel Seven

From 2007 Schwarz was a part of the Channel Seven's AFL commentary team.