A revolutionary force in the NFL — Joe Schmidt: 1932-2024

The professional football world today is celebrating the life of JOE SCHMIDT, a player whose skills and instincts revolutionized the position of middle linebacker in the National Football League.

A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 1973 and the NFL 100 All-Time Team, Schmidt died Sept. 11, 2024, in hospice care, his family said. He was 92.

“Joe Schmidt played in a golden era of middle linebackers in the NFL, and many of his peers considered him the toughest opponent they faced,” said Jim Porter, president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “When Joe Schmidt got to the ball carrier, that was the end of the play. And yet, he never sought out attention. He let his play do the talking.”

Schmidt used his 220-pound, battering-ram body to level opposing runners while also possessing the agility and footspeed to stay with backs and receivers in pass coverage. He set a standard for his position that led several other NFL teams to adopt the 4-3 defensive alignment he helped define over 13 seasons in Detroit.

“I’ve never seen anyone who has a better idea of where the other team is going,” said George Wilson, who coached Schmidt for eight of those seasons. The two won a title together in 1957; it remains Detroit’s last NFL championship. “A player either has that ability or he doesn’t have it. Schmidt’s got it — but good.”

“Good” grossly understates Schmidt’s NFL career, but coming out of college neither he nor the Lions held lofty expectations.

His talent was obvious. As a senior, Schmidt earned All-American status on a 6-3 University of Pittsburgh team that beat powerhouses Army, Notre Dame and Ohio State. But concerning for scouts was a long history of injuries over his career: two broken ribs, a broken wrist, separated shoulder, wrenched knee, torn knee cartilage and a concussion and hemorrhage that put him in the hospital for 10 days. When he wasn’t sidelined with an injury, Pitt noted in a profile on him, he was playing hurt.

Consequently, he fell into the seventh round of the 1953 draft — and into the laps of the Lions. The defending NFL champions weren’t looking to add many pieces to the league’s best defense, but Schmidt impressed right away and became an immediate starter.

Schmidt finished the season with two pass interceptions and helped the Lions repeat as NFL champions with the league's second-best scoring defense. Equally noteworthy: He didn’t miss a game, a feat he repeated for the next seven seasons. Schmidt would miss only 11 games over his 13 years, mostly due to shoulder issues that ultimately ended his playing career in 1965. He nearly didn’t play that year; after two shortened seasons, he considered retirement but delayed the move and started all 14 games of his final campaign.

Joe Schmidt's toughness was rooted in childhood

That toughness can be traced to Schmidt’s childhood and his introduction to football.

Raised in Brentwood, Pa., just south of Pittsburgh, Schmidt was the youngest of four boys in the family. His father and two of his brothers died when Joe was young — one of the brothers in World War II.

The remaining older brother, John, was a strong influence on Schmidt. He coached Joe, then age 14, on the semipro St. Clair Veterans.

“Joe began playing rough, tough football against full-grown men on the sandlots of Western Pennsylvania when he was only 12,” longtime Pittsburgh journalist and broadcaster Myron Cope wrote in “The Saturday Evening Post.”

“Joe was a tackle on the St. Clair Veterans, a team that was otherwise made up of men who had served in World War II. He was a big boy then, weighing 175 pounds, but he didn’t have a whisker on his chin. When the St. Clair Veterans visited the Western State Penitentiary to play a team of convicts, he had to lie about his age to get inside the prison walls. Probably the convicts would have been insulted if they had known they were playing against a 14-year-old kid.”

That experience helped prepare him for big-time college football. He began as a fullback and guard at Pitt before moving to linebacker as a sophomore.

One of his career highlights came in a 22-19 upset of Notre Dame in South Bend in 1952. Prior to the game in which he would return a pass interception for 60 yards, Schmidt delivered a memorable locker room speech.

According to Jim O’Brien’s book “Hail to Pitt,” “Schmidt then described in graphic terms what he would personally do to each and every one if they dared to let Notre Dame beat them.”

One of Schmidt’s teammates reportedly said: “We were more afraid of Joe than we were of Notre Dame.”

His leadership qualities and strong persona traveled with Schmidt to Detroit. He was named team captain nine seasons, team MVP four times and selected to play in 10 consecutive Pro Bowls (1954-1963 seasons).

Schmidt was among the NFL greats who help define and refine the middle linebacker position. During the 1950s, many teams changed alignment to the 4-3 defense. He was the first to play middle linebacker in that scheme and left his stamp on it. His finesse and anticipation in that role earned him respect across the league, including identification as the “defensive quarterback.”

Hall of Fame peers spoke highly of Joe Schmidt

“Joe is the best linebacker in the league,” said PAUL HORNUNG, then a member of the Green Bay Packers, who faced Schmidt twice a year as rivals in the NFL’s West Division.

“When Schmidt latched onto you, that was the end of the play,” JIM BROWN said.

Schmidt was big enough and strong enough to run through opponents. It was his knowledge of other teams’ schemes, however, that made him a true standout player.

“He was always in the way,” said JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of the San Francisco 49ers and like Hornung and Brown, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Schmidt’s career statistics included 24 interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, and 17 fumble recoveries. Among his many accolades: NFL Lineman of the Year in 1957, NFL Defensive MVP (1960, 1963) and spots on the NFL All-Decade Team of the 1950s and The Sporting News’ list of “Football’s 100 Greatest Players” (No. 65).

After his playing career ended, Schmidt stayed in the game as a coach. He started as an assistant for the Lions in 1966 before being promoted to head coach at the young age of 35. Over the next six seasons, he posted a 43-34-7 record.

His 1970 team won its final five regular-season games to reach the playoffs, falling 5-0 to a Dallas Cowboys team that reached Super Bowl V. Over the subsequent 53 seasons, the Lions have reached the playoffs only 12 times.

Once his coaching days were over, Schmidt was successful in the auto industry, forming Joe Schmidt Enterprises. The company helped supply Detroit’s Big Three auto makers — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

Perhaps no tribute to Schmidt was finer than the words Hall of Fame quarterback NORM VAN BROCKLIN expressed when he said: “If I were to start a team from scratch and pick out just one player, I'd select Joe Schmidt to form the core of my team.”

Schmidt’s legacy will be remembered forever and guarded at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.