Two Carlsbad High Alums Want Super Bowl Rings

Carlsbad High football fans who remember a couple of former Lancer standouts will be rooting for the Green Bay Packers to take down the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday.

Packers wide receiver Brett Swain and linebacker Brandon Chillar will have a chance to earn the coveted ring that goes to the winner, though Chillar will be sidelined with a shoulder injury that forced him onto the injured reserve list in late November.

The two certainly look more a part of the Southern California beach community than residents of upper Wisconsin, with their flowing locks. They work out together in the offseason here. Swain graduated in 2003, three years after Chillar.

At Carlsbad High, Chillar played both ways, starring as a tight end on offense and linebacker on defense. He was named the Union-Tribune defensive player of the year and went on to play for UCLA before being drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2004.

After four seasons there, he was Green Bay’s lone free-agent signee in 2008 and became the Packers’ primary cover man on tight ends and running backs. He played in eight games and had 16 tackles in 2010 before his injury.

Swain’s season-ending injury came in 2009, when he hurt a knee after playing in just six games. A seventh-round draft choice out of San Diego State in 2008, he spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad. This past season he played in all 16 games for the Pack, catching six passes for 72 yards.

He was an All-CIF pick and Avocado League offensive player of the year for Carlsbad before going on the play for the Aztecs, where he had 135 career catches for 1,893 yards and eight touchdowns.