Player Profile: Albert Lu

#22 - Defensive Back - 7th Season
Career Stats:
INT:         5
Ret. TD:  2
Sacks:      2
Catches: 57
Yards:   773
TD:         10
PAT:       21
Points:    93

Albert, aside from being one of the "Original 6," is the captain and founder of Swag. Having already played 7 on 7 at the intramural level at UCI Albert heard about Top Gun and began to toy with the idea of getting some of his high school football friends together to make a team. He ran the idea by Jason and the pair started recruiting right away. The Punishers were born. Aside from the other originals, Swag has received contributions throughout various seasons from Taylor Lucero (Impact), Doug Nel, Jake Miles, Josh Zwart, Chris Lee, Robin Lu, Cody Inglis, Adam Garza, and Nick Greenlee. None of this would have been possible without the incredible leadership ability Albert has shown.

Statistically Lu's best season was Summer 2009. Knowing that the team would have to fill the massive void that the loss of Lucero left, Albert slid right into the slot receiver position and delivered 27 catches for 398 yards (second on the team) and 6 touchdowns, while also leading the then-Punishers with 7 PATs and delivering a couple of clutch interceptions. Stats don't show the true value of Albert to Swag, however. It has been his ability to play virtually every position on the field and still deliver solid performances that has contributed to the team's continued success.

Most Memorable Game: Inglourious Basterds v. Lady Bugs, Fall 2009 Week 5
The Basterds were rolling against teams that they should beat, but had yet to deliver against truly competitive teams. On a hot fall afternoon they were asked to play back to back games against two eventual playoff teams - America's Next Top Model and Lady Bugs. After a hotly-contested, physical loss to ANTM spirits were a little low in the Basterds camp. And when the offense got off to a horrible start things started to look worse. Enter Albert and the defense. IB's swarming defense created 5 interceptions and 2 defensive touchdowns, of which Albert had 2 and one, respectively. Albert's pick-six helped ice an improbable 18-6 victory for the Inglourious Basterds and give the team a much-needed wave of momentum that they rode all the way to the playoffs. Oh, did I mention that Albert was just 8 days removed from a motorcycle accident and playing with a heavily-bandaged leg? Because that's kind of important to the drama of the whole thing.