Where are They Now? Catching up with Michael Stuewe, Former Virginia Tech Wide Receiver Whose Son is a Hokie Signee

If you are a college football fan, you likely know the story of Rudy, the grossly undersized walk-on at Notre Dame who serves as the ultimate football model of courage, persistence, and overcoming the greatest of odds.

If you are a Virginia Tech football fan, especially from the mid 1990’s, you may know of Michael Stuewe, the Hokies’ own Rudy-story of sorts.  Stuewe (pronounced STEW-ee), an undersized receiver who was lightly recruited, walked on to the Tech football team in the fall of 1993. 

Unlike Rudy, Stuewe earned himself a scholarship and worked his way into the starting lineup for the Hokies.  With a great sense of determination and an incredible work ethic, he overcame his own challenges to become a significant contributor on two of Tech’s best teams in history.

Now, thirty years later, Stuewe’s son Luke is headed to Blacksburg, but with a scholarship already in hand.  The recent Tech signee, a receiver/defensive back, has the opportunity to write his own success story as yet another legacy in Blacksburg.

Born and raised in Somerset, New Jersey, Michael Stuewe enjoyed a typical 1980’s childhood, playing a lot of football, basketball, and baseball.  “We just played ball and hung out with our buddies,” he recalled fondly. 

He went to St. Peter the Apostle High School, a very small school in neighboring New Brunswick.  “There were 55 kids in my graduating class,” he pointed out, which made it very difficult for his football team to win against the larger local schools. 

The small enrollment hindered Stuewe's dream to play football in college, so he prepped at the Hun School, a private boarding institution in Princeton. He sent his film tapes everywhere, but his options were limited since he was a 6’1” 159-pound receiver with average speed.  The University of Richmond and the University of Connecticut were interested, and it looked like Stuewe was headed for (then) Division 1-AA football.

Fate intervened, though, when a Hun School running back sent his own video tapes to Virginia Tech. That is how the coaches noticed Stuewe - while watching his teammate’s video.  “They didn’t look at him, they saw me as a wide receiver,” he remembered. 

Tech receivers coach Terry Strock then recruited Stuewe and they started to build a relationship. Although a scholarship was not offered, Strock invited the Jersey native to try out for the football team as a walk-on, and Stuewe packed his bags for Blacksburg.

The struggle continued for Stuewe, who enrolled at Tech in the fall of 1993 and walked on the football team.  The 159-pounder faced many challenges other than his size, the greatest of which was finding his place on such a large roster. “They barely even knew who I was,” he half-joked.

Fitting in as a walk-on was also a struggle off the field.  “I didn’t even get a locker in the locker room,” he recalled.  “I was down the hallway with about fifteen guys in a closet.”

But that was fine with Stuewe, who dedicated himself to the weight room, building his body and improving his speed.  He knew those were the first steps to take in earning a spot on the team – and getting out of that locker room closet, which, as he recalls, only two of them did.

The following season was more of the same, but this time with a spot on the scout team, and Stuewe embraced his role.  He knew that he was not playing on Saturdays, so he approached his scout team duties the way he would approach a game. 

He made it his goal to be the best scout team player out there.  “I’m going to go against our starting defense and get our defensive coordinators pissed off by going a thousand miles an hour,” he said, “because I didn’t have a game on Saturday.”

In the spring of 1995, he finally had his “Who is that?” moment.  Coaches took notice of his speed and his hands, and according to Stuewe, “I made a name for myself, especially in the eyes of Coach (Frank) Beamer.” 

The head coach called the unknown receiver in for a meeting and shared some great news.  “He said, ‘Michael, you’re doing a phenomenal job, and we’re going to put you on scholarship’.” 

Nothing changed, though, in Stuewe’s approach heading into the 1995 season as a scholarship player.  With his strong work ethic, he focused his preseason on his new role.  “I was pretty much slated as a guy who was going to be special teams,” he said. “I wasn’t even part of the wide receiver rotation going into game one.”

The football gods intervened again for Stuewe late in the fourth quarter of the Thursday night season-opener against Boston College.  He got his opportunity late in the contest when Virginia Tech was down by six points.

“Bryan Still went down in the fourth quarter,” Stuewe recalled, “and all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘Stuewe, you gotta go in for the two-minute drill’.”

A deer in the headlights at first, he laughed while recalling the moment that he needed to ask fellow receiver Cornelius White for help while Jim Druckenmiller called plays in the two-minute offense.

Although the Hokies’ final drive came up short, Stuewe caught two passes for 25 yards and cemented his place in the rotation. “After doing that, I never left that four-man rotation,” he said.  “For the rest of that year, when four wide-outs went out, I went out.” 

As the fourth receiver, Stuewe only tallied 13 catches for 112 yards on the year, but he did play in eleven games during that historic Sugar Bowl season, setting him up for his personal best performance in 1996.

With Druckenmiller slinging the ball again in ‘96, Stuewe enjoyed a productive season as the third leading receiver.  He totaled 25 catches for 385 yards.  His 5 touchdowns were third in the Big East that year. 

The highlight for Stuewe came in consecutive games with 65-yard touchdown receptions in November.  “Those are the things you don’t forget,” he said when reminiscing on his career.

This was also the year when legendary Virginia Tech broadcaster Bill Roth came up with a Chris Berman-esque nickname for the receiver from outside New Brunswick, New Jersey.  Roth started referring to him as Michael “Brunswick Stuewe,” but probably more for locally popular stew with origins in nearby Brunswick County.

1996 ended with another Big East championship and a trip to the Orange Bowl to take on national powerhouse Nebraska.  It was a special father-son experience for the Stuewes, as Michael’s father Dennis played his college football for the Cornhuskers in the late 1960’s prior to his time with the New York Jets. 

“Tom Osborne was on the staff when my father played at Nebraska,” Stuewe recalled, and he appreciated the opportunity to meet the Hall of Fame head coach.   

So which team did Mr. Stuewe cheer for that night? Although Dennis was still a red-blooded Cornhusker fan, on that night he was “absolutely” a Hokie in his maroon and orange. 

Stuewe played out the 1997 season as the Hokies earned their fifth consecutive bowl game.  He finished his career with 53 receptions for 689 yards and a 13 yards-per-catch average. He added one punt return for eight yards and had five career touchdowns.

The numbers do not stand out, but the career does. Stuewe went from an undersized, average speed kid with no Division 1A offers to a starter and reliable receiver for a nationally competitive Virginia Tech team.

Stuewe overcame great adversity to get where he wanted to be.  He was the epitome of the Beamer player of those teams.  “If you have a never quit attitude, and you work your tail off, good things will happen,” Stuewe said, repeating the mantra of the legendary coach.

Michael Stuewe was not drafted in the spring of 1998, but much like his collegiate journey, that was not going to stop him. He signed a free-agent contract with the Detroit Lions and made his way to the Motor City.

He recalled having a good camp and thought he had a chance to make the team.  Unfortunately, he suffered an injury just prior to the final pre-season game, tearing cartilage in his rib cage.  Facing a six-month recovery, he was released by the club and his football career came to a close.

It was short-lived, but Stuewe still considers it a phenomenal experience to go through an NFL camp, especially with such players as Barry Sanders, Herman Moore, and Charlie Batch, to name a few.

Michael Stuewe is currently a senior vice president of sales for TravelCenters of America.  Right after his release from the Lions in 1999, he started that career path.  “I’ve been in the industry ever since then, just working for companies that got absorbed by other companies, and that brought me to Westlake,” he said.

Westlake, Ohio, is home to the TravelCenters of America corporate offices, and Stuewe and his family reside in nearby Avon Lake, a suburb of Cleveland located on the shores of Lake Erie.  He met his wife Suzanne, a former HighTech, when he was freshman in Blacksburg, and they are the proud parents of four boys.

With a dad and two grandfathers who played collegiate football, it is no surprise that the Stuewe boys are following a similar path.  Oldest son Michael is a senior defensive back at Case Western Reserve University, and their next oldest son is a redshirt-freshman wide receiver at Ohio University.  Luke, a Virginia Tech signee, is a high school senior, and they have an eighth-grade son who plays football as well.

Needless to say, the Stuewe family’s weekend pigskin schedule is quite hectic.  Thursdays are for the eighth-grade games, and Friday nights are for high school games.  On Saturdays, The Stuewes “divide and conquer,” with Michael going to the farther NCAA location and Suzanne attending the closer game.

“It’s a really good problem to have,” Stuewe said about the schedule demands.  “We are so blessed.”  He loves watching all of the boys play, so he is just enjoying them all game by game.

The third Stuewe boy, Luke, is a 6’2” 195-pound wide receiver/defensive back for Avon Lake High School, and he was recruited to the Hokies as an athlete.  His father describes him as a utility knife who could play on either side of the ball, depending on his development, both in skills and size.

He was having a good junior season in 2023 but he broke his collarbone, which likely limited his recruitment.  Still, Luke received offers from some highly reputable institutions, such as Army, Lehigh, Colgate, and Dartmouth. 

All of these would have been good options, especially for the academic opportunities these schools present.  For the elder Stuewe, this was an important step in the recruiting process. 

“You’re going to be at a great school, you’re going to get a degree, and that’s what it’s all about,” he said.  “You’ll play football, but at some time you’re going to hang the helmet up.  And you’re going to have to get a real job, and get an education, and start building relationships that are going to take you places.”

Still, the dream to play in a power conference was there, and like his dad, Luke Stuewe was going to need an opportunity to turn heads.  Also like his father, he got that chance in Blacksburg at an offseason camp.

During the June session, Luke Stuewe turned heads, reminiscent of his father’s spring practice of 1995 when coaches were asking for the name of the unknown kid that was making plays on the field.

And like his father, Luke walked out of camp with a scholarship offer.

Luke committed to Tech in mid-August, and then he signed his letter of intent on the early signing day.  He will be a Hokie!

In reflecting on his son’s decision to commit to Virginia Tech, Michael Stuewe noted the effects of the family atmosphere and the positive culture in Blacksburg.  “It’s real.  You can feel it,” Stuewe said of the vibe that made such a strong impact on his son. “It really came down to the relationships we were able to build over our visits.”

Having gone on so many recruiting trips, Luke was exposed to a lot of different personalities and recruiting tactics.  But he was drawn to the genuineness of the Tech coaches.  While out for pizza with his former teammates who are now Tech coaches, Michael Stuewe recalled how his son was influenced by the interactions. 

“The guys that were in the office today that we were talking to, and the guys that I see on the field,” Stuewe remembered his son saying, “they’re the same guys that we were sitting with and just talking.”  These real-life interactions made quite an impact on the youngster, and also on his father, who is looking at the bigger picture.

When evaluating his son’s offers, Stuewe said that he is “Trying to find a culture where I felt I could leave my 18-year-old for four to five years and be raised as the man I want him to be.”  He wants his son to get a great education, to be around good people, and to be part of a good culture.

“As a father, that is what I always looked for in any university he went to,” he said. He found it at Virginia Tech.

What does Luke Stuewe bring to the table beyond the measurables?  According to his father, Luke shows a lot of determination and heart.  As the third child with two older brothers, he has grown up in constant competition, always trying to prove himself. 

Michael Stuewe laughed as he shared a story that illustrates the very nature of his third child’s innate desire to win.  When Luke was in kindergarten, he and his friends had a contest to see who could hold their breath the longest.  “He held it so long he passed out,” Stuewe said with a chuckle.  “His eyes rolled to the back of his head.” 

Luke was taken to the health office and Mr. and Mrs. Stuewe were called in to the school.  What was young Luke’s response when his parents tried to talk to him about the dangers of such a contest?

“But I won.”

This competitive edge, along with a high athletic IQ, allowed Luke to be a kid who excelled in youth sports, and that has carried into his teen years.  Despite missing games due to injury, he still earned spots on the all-conference and all-county teams this year.

Now Luke is taking his 6’2” and 195-pound frame to Virginia Tech, and his father is excited about his son’s opportunities to grow with the school’s nutrition program and weight room facilities.   

It will take a lot of hard work and determination to elevate his game to the next level, but Luke is up to the challenge.  “I am back at the bottom like all freshmen,” he said in a recent interview with The Morning Journal.  “I have to outwork the people around me. I have to get bigger, stronger, faster and smarter. That will get me opportunities to play.”  

And if he slacks off, he has a father to remind him of the hard work and determination it will take to reach those goals.

Luke signed his letter of intent on December 4th, and once he suits up for the Hokies, the Stuewes will become the 31st pair of fathers and sons to play football at Virginia Tech. Their names will go on a plaque in Petrine Plaza outside the football team’s strength and conditioning complex, joining the 30 other father-son combos and 35 sets of brothers on display.

The Stuewe kids have grown up with regular visits to Blacksburg, and now one of them will actually play in Lane Stadium.  There is a certain magic in this for Michael Stuewe.  “It was always a dream.  What if my kid played here?” he reflected.  “He’ll be doing it a thousand times better than I did, which is what you want out of your kids.”

He also wants his son to be himself, not “Michael’s son.”  “What I hope for him is that he is able to create his own legacy.”

And Luke plans to do that at Virginia Tech.  Michael Stuewe has heard his son say, “I’m not coming here because of my dad, I’m coming her because of my own skill.”

If he continues to work hard, have a never-quit attitude, and make the most of his opportunities, Luke Stuewe can have a bright future at Virginia Tech. And the Stuewe family will add yet another chapter in their family’s collegiate football story book.