The position may not be new for senior wide receiver and defensive back Joseph Dwyer but wearing the number two for Puyallup High Schools varsity football team was.
This is Dwyer’s first year at Puyallup coming from Rogers High School last year.
Dwyer started playing football when he was in the third grade. He got his interest in the game from his dad who played college football at Eastern Washington University. His dad didn’t just play football; he was a two-sport athlete also doing track there as well.
“A player I used to like to watch a lot and think I could play like, or always wanted to, was Tavon Austin in college when he played at West Virginia,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer is listed as 5’9 and 160 pounds and Austin is 5’9 and 185 pounds so they are similar in height. Austin was selected by the St. Louis Rams with the eighth pick in the 2013 draft. Austin’s outstanding college play never quite transferred over to the NFL and now plays for the Dallas Cowboys. He is very well known for being one of the better wide receivers in college football history.
Dwyer and his teammate, senior Danny Uluilakepa, have a pre-game ritual they’ve done since the first game of the season.
“Danny and I went to the field together and tied our shoes and got our shoes on together every time in the middle of the field,” Dwyer said.
Joseph Dwyer says his daily inspiration comes from one thing.
Dwyer’s little brother Jordan also plays on the football team. Jordan Dwyer is a sophomore who wears the number 21 and plays wide receiver/defensive back on varsity and is listed at 6’ and 160 pounds.
“My little brother Jordan, he pushes me every day, we compete every day, we always want to be better and he’s probably the person that pushes me the most,” Joseph Dwyer said.
Since Joseph Dwyer is a senior, he has the choice to play football in college and he said he will be playing in college, but as of right now he is not sure what college he will be attending.
“Football has taught me how to be a leader and also how to fit my own role at the same time, because sometimes you are the leader of a certain group or the team and sometimes you’re not and you just got to play your own role, so it’s taught me to fit both of those roles and how to play as a unit and more than just myself,” Joseph Dwyer said.
Now that the football season has ended with a loss against Camas High School in the post-season, Joseph Dwyer doesn’t have time to rest; he plays varsity basketball for Puyallup as well.
