It is a hard and somber day for the football fans in the ‘Motor City’. During the hay day of the Detroit Lions franchise, middle linebacker Joe Schmidt was one of the anchors and more often than not, the key cog of the team’s success.
A jack of all trades, that could do a multitude of things on the grid iron, who changed the way his position was played forever, Schmidt led the Lions to two NFL Championships, earned 10 Pro Bowl selections, made eight All-Pro teams and was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Schmidt died on Wednesday, his family announced. He was 92 years old.
“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,” Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said Thursday in a statement. “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.”
For a hardnosed 13 seasons, from 1953-1965, Schmidt starred for the Lions and two years later became the team’s head coach from 1967-1972, posting a 43-34-7 record that included four winning campaigns and one playoff appearance. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 1973 member’s career olds a coveted spot on the Hall of Fame’s All-1950s team and a spot on the NFL All-Time 100th Anniversary Team.
Embed from Getty ImagesA seventh-round selection of Detroit out of the University of Pittsburgh in the 1953 NFL Draft, Schmidt, who is also a member of the College Hall of Fame, joined a stacked Lions squad that won the NFL Championship in 1952. The rookie, who fell like a rock in the draft due to an abundance of injuries sustained in college, quickly put an end to any doubts that he could hold down a starting spot on the NFL’s best team.
Schmidt was a starter on the 1953 Lions championship squad and the next year made the first of what would turn into an annual trip to the Pro Bowl for the next decade.
In addition to his elite play on the field, Schmidt got it done and was a model of consistency and leadership. He was also one of the first iron men, starting every game in the first seven years of his career and had the honor of being a team captain for nine of his 13 years.
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of Joe Schmidt. Joe was a Lion through and through, having spent his entire career in Detroit,” the Lions said in a statement. “Joe was an enduring link to our Championship era and one of the proudest Lions you will ever meet.”
Back in the day, running backs ruled Sundays and middle linebackers were their fiercest rivals and adversaries. For all the Gale Sayerses, Jim Browns and Paul Hornungs, there were the Dick Butkuses, Ray Nitschkes and Bobby Bells to oppose them.
Schmidt, along with the Chicago Bears’ Bill George and New York Giants’ Sam Huff, was one of pioneers to bring a spotlight to the middle backer position as the 4-3 defense became a staple for teams. However, as the position was often praised for its toughness and hard-hitting nature, Schmidt was remarkably versatile as a three-down player and very much a ballhawk. He was not afraid to do the dirty work and physical tackler, but had the quickness to travel in coverage and the smarts to excel in any situation.
In 155 career games (151 starts), Schmidt came down with 24 interceptions and 17 fumble recoveries. Schmidt, who made three house calls, led the NFL with eight fumbles recovered in 1955, second-most in a single season in league history, and had six interceptions in 1958.
Season after season there was one thing you could count, Schmidt piling up accolades as one the league’s best.
Schmidt’s eight first-team All-Pro selections are the most ever for a linebacker. Schmidt’s 10 Pro Bowls are fourth all time, trailing Ray Lewis with the Baltimore Ravens (12) and Junior Seau of the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots (12), Derrick Brooks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11) and tied with Chicago Bears Mike Singletary (10). Those 10 Pro Bowls are also tied for the most in Lions history with franchise icon Barry Sanders who played for 1989-1998.
“Joe Schmidt had the heart of a Lion, which made it appropriate that he was also the heart of our team,” Lions owner/chair emeritus Martha Firestone Ford said in a statement. “Joe was a key part of our Championship seasons and continued to be an important part of our organization until his passing. Joe made his home in Detroit and carried his success from the field into our community. I am saddened to hear of his passing, but I have nothing but fond memories of the person he was.”
The 1965 season was Schmidt’s last on the field. He started all 14 games and had four interceptions and an unofficial 4.5 sacks as proof that his playmaking abilities were intact.
Over his career, Schmidt helped the Lions to eight winning seasons and three NFL title game appearances. As a rookie, Schmidt was a huge factor in the Lions winning back-to-back championships, having defeated the Cleveland Browns for a second year in a row. The ensuing 1954 season saw the Lions set their sights on a three-peat, but Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, Schmidt and Co. were demolished by Brown and Cleveland. Three seasons later with a cast of Hall of Famers in Schmidt, Layne, John Henry Johnson, Frank Gatski, Lou Creekmur, Jack Christiansen and Yale Lary, Detroit returned to the championship to play their ultimate foe, the Browns for a fourth time and won again. The Lions’ 59-14 win over the Browns in the 1957 NFL Championship Game stands as the franchise’s last title victory and championship appearance.
Retired as a player at 33, Schmidt was back with the club the next season as a 34-year-old linebackers’ coach. A season after that, Schmidt began his six-year tenure as Lions head coach at just 35.
For two decades, Lions seasons began with Schmidt as a starting linebacker or coaching on the sidelines. He was one of the greatest Lions there ever was and one of the finest middle linebackers in league history.
