DETROIT – Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said the family informed the team of Schmidt’s death on Wednesday. A cause of death was not given.
Schmidt was one of the first great middle linebackers in professional football and played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953 to 1965. He was named All-Pro eight times and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
We are saddened by the passing of Joe Schmidt.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Marilyn and the entire Schmidt family as we all mourn his passing.
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) 12 September 2024
“Joe likes to say he was 6-foot-3 at one point in his career, but he tackled so many fullbacks that his neck got pushed into his shoulders and he’s 6-foot-3 now,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “Anyway, he was listed as 6-foot-3 and, as I said, he was borderline for the position. There are qualities, though, that scouts or anyone drafting a ballplayer certainly can’t measure.”
Schmidt was born in Pittsburgh and played college football in his hometown of Pitt, where he began his career as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted to do and to develop myself through my athletic ability,” Schmidt said. “Everything I am is because of that opportunity.”
Schmidt struggled with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved during this era, his speed, skill and tackling ability made him a valuable member of some of the franchise’s best teams.
Schmidt was selected to the Pro Bowl for ten consecutive years from 1955 to 1964, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s. In both championship seasons, Schmidt was named NFL Defensive MVP.
In a 1957 playoff game in San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27, the biggest NFL comeback in postseason history until Buffalo overcame a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them and surprise them almost every time they attacked,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re in trouble, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after his playing career. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967 to 1972, achieving a record of 43-35-7.
Schmidt was named to the NFL’s All-Time Team, announced in 2019 to mark the league’s centennial, joining fellow Hall of Fame inside linebackers Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Willie Lanier, Ray Lewis and Junior Seau.
His No. 56 is retired by the Lions and his No. 65 by Pitt.
Not bad for a below-average seventh-round draft pick.
“It was my dream to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “So many people told me I was too small. That I couldn’t play. So many negative people said negative things about me … that it makes you feel good. I said, ‘OK, I’m going to prove it to you.'”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
