Joe Schmidt, a former Detroit Lions linebacker, Pro Football Hall of Fame member and head coach who won two NFL championships as a player, died Wednesday night at the age of 92, the team announced Thursday.
Schmidt, who grew up in Brentwood, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, played 13 seasons for the Lions (1953-65), was named to the Pro Bowl 10 times and was selected to the First-Team All-Pro eight times. He was captain of the Detroit team for nine seasons. With Detroit, he won the NFL championship in 1953 and 1957 and was named to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team and the 1950s All-Decade Team. The Sporting News ranks Schmidt 65th on its list of the “100 Greatest Football Players.”
Schmidt attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he was named to the First-Team All-America selection in 1952 and where his number (65) is no longer used. He attended high school in Brentwood.
“Joe Schmidt played in the golden era of middle linebackers in the NFL, and many of his peers considered him the toughest opponent they faced,” Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in a statement. “When Joe Schmidt got to the ball carrier, the game was over. And yet, he never sought attention. He let his play speak for itself.”
Schmidt was the youngest of four boys. He lost his father and two brothers at a young age and was greatly influenced by his older brother John, who coached Joe’s football team when Joe was 14.
In his final year in Pittsburgh, the team went 6-3 with key wins over Notre Dame, Ohio State and Army. The Hall of Fame website says one of Schmidt’s former teammates said at the time, “We were more afraid of Joe than Notre Dame.”
Due to a long history of injuries, Schmidt fell to the seventh round of the 1953 NFL Draft.
After his playing career, Schmidt joined the Lions’ staff the following year as linebackers coach and after one season in that role was named the team’s head coach, a position he held until 1972. His coaching record was 43-35-7, including a loss in the Divisional Round of the 1970 playoffs to the Dallas Cowboys.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 – the first former Pitt player to receive that honor – and into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
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The Hall of Fame credits Schmidt with transforming the middle linebacker position. According to the organization’s website, he was one of the first players to excel at the position after NFL defenses adjusted their strategies.
According to the Hall of Fame: “Schmidt didn’t exactly create the middle linebacker position, but it was a job that was developed in the 1950s with the change in the standard defensive structure to the 4-3 front line. Without question, he was the first to play the position with such finesse that even the crowds in the stands could recognize the growing value of the ‘defensive quarterback.'”
“He anticipated plays with uncanny accuracy. Schmidt was a deadly tackler, fast enough to evade a 250-pound guard and smart enough to follow a play along the line or drop back to cover a pass. He was strong enough to get past a potential blocker and thwart a play. But his greatest talent was arguably his uncanny sense of what the opponent was going to do.”
Schmidt had 24 interceptions and 17 fumble recoveries in his career. He was named NFL Lineman of the Year in 1957 and NFL Defensive MVP in 1960 and 1963.
According to the Hall of Fame, former Hall of Fame quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, who played for the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles before coaching the Minnesota Vikings during Schmidt’s playing career, said, “If I had to build a team from scratch and pick just one player, I would pick Joe Schmidt as the core of my team.”
George Wilson, who coached Schmidt for eight seasons in Detroit, is quoted on the Hall of Fame website as saying, “I’ve never seen anyone who knew better where the other team was going. … A player either has the talent or he doesn’t. Schmidt has it – but it’s good.”
After his playing days, Schmidt began a career in the automotive industry as head of Joe Schmidt Enterprises, a supplier to the three major Detroit automakers.
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