Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who led the Detroit Lions to their last title in 1957, died Wednesday, his family confirmed to the Free Press on Thursday.
He was 92 years old.
Schmidt is one of the most revered personalities in Lions history, having spent two decades with the team as both a player and coach. He was an eight-time first-team All-Pro, a member of the NFL’s 100th anniversary squad, and pioneered the modern middle linebacker position, which transformed defenses.
“He was like a coach on the field,” Schmidt’s teammate, Roger Zatkoff, told the Free Press in June 2020. “I recall times when he would come up and say, ‘Hey, cheat over here, one man to your left,’ because something else was going on and we needed to react. And the truth is, he, like Bobby Layne, made alterations without the coaches’ knowledge.
Three of the 36 Lions players on the 1957 championship team are still alive: Gene Cronin (starting defensive end), Jerry Reichow (starting receiver), and Bob Long (beginning linebacker).
A championship debut
Schmidt, a seventh-round pick out of Pittsburgh in 1953, helped the Lions win the championship as a rookie after taking over as starting from LaVern Torgeson early in the season.
That December, the Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 17-16 to win their third championship, and second in a row. Schmidt, who forced quarterback Otto Graham to fumble to set up the Lions’ opening touchdown in the championship game, was named to the Pro Bowl every year for the next decade.
“He was the best,” said Cronin, a teammate of Schmidt’s in 1956-59. “Years ago, there was a story going around that they were going to make a movie called ‘The Violent World of Sam Huff.’ And (Huff) was a fine middle linebacker, no question about it. And they asked (Baltimore Colts Hall of Fame lineman) Gino Marchetti, they said, ‘What do you think about making a movie called ‘The Violent World of Sam Huff?’ And he said, ‘Well, if they make a movie, they better get Joe Schmidt to play the part.’ You can’t get a better compliment than that.”
Joe Schmidt changed NFL defenses
Prior to Schmidt’s arrival, most NFL teams, including the Lions, used five-man defensive fronts with a big nose guard in the center of the line.
Schmidt, who began his college career at fullback and guard, switched to linebacker during his second season at Pitt, where his speed and athleticism allowed him to shine as an off-the-ball run-stopper.
He played outside linebacker for the Lions his first two seasons before moving to middle linebacker in 1955, when coach Buddy Parker transitioned to a 4-3 system after nose guard Les Bingaman’s retirement.
With Schmidt as their head, the Lions boasted some of the NFL’s most formidable defenses.
“Nearly everybody soon went to the 4-3 with the middle linebacker the key to the defense,” Parker once told the Free Press. “Schmidt’s mobility took some of the load off the defensive backs on pass defense.
“In fact, his style of play brought about the zone defense, revolving defenses and modern defensive look of pro football.”
Joe Schmidt’s backstory
Schmidt, who was born in 1932 amid the height of the depression, spent his early years in Pittsburgh. His father died when he was 12, one of his elder brothers was killed in World War II, and he grew up idolizing his other older brother, John, who played football at Carnegie Tech and coached a semi-pro team called the St. Clair Veterans.
Schmidt played sandlot ball with that squad as a youngster and, according to The Saturday Evening Post, even joined them as a 14-year-old for a game against a team of inmates at the Western State Penitentiary.
Schmidt sustained numerous injuries while at Pitt, including two broken ribs, a fractured wrist, a separated shoulder, and a significant concussion.
Because of his injuries, he was taken fifth overall in the 1953 draft by the Lions, behind guard Harley Sewell, halfback Gene Gedman, and tackles Charlie Ane and Ollie Spencer. Sewell, Gedman, and Ane also played on the Lions’ 1953 and 1957 championship teams.
“Statistically, I’d say he was marginal. “He was 6 feet tall and 220 pounds,” then-Lions owner William Clay Ford said when presenting Schmidt for his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “Joe likes to tell that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he tackled so many fullbacks that it pushed his neck into his shoulders, and now he is 6 feet.
Scouts and drafters cannot measure some traits of a ball player. Desire, leadership, and courage. Nobody understood how much Joe had of those elements, and Joe had incredible qualities in those elements.”
Schmidt, the Lions’ team MVP in 1955, 1957-58, and 1961, helped form what is now known as the NFL Players Association in the 1950s and was a driving factor in having players paid for training camp and pensions.
He retired after the 1965 season, spent a year as Harry Gilmer’s assistant coach, and took over as head coach the following year, compiling a 43-35-7 record in seven seasons.
A Detroit love story
“I loved football and I came up here, seventh draft choice of a championship team, I really didn’t think I had an opportunity to make the team and lucky I made the team,” Schmidt recalled to the Free Press in 2017. “I enjoyed it so much, the camaraderie, winning a championship, and the chance in business after I left sports. I owe everything to my football career in Detroit.
“If you stay and work here, people are really nice to you in the industry. They are huge followers of Detroit sports, particularly the Detroit Lions. And we were winning at the moment, which definitely helped. But I can’t say enough about my opportunities in Detroit, especially those provided by the Detroit Lions, for which I’m eternally thankful.”
Schmidt, who began his own automotive services business providing rubber and plastic to the Big Three during his playing career, is survived by his wife, Marilynn, and five children.
The family has arranged a private service rather than a public monument.
Remembering the life and career of Joe Schmidt: A Lions Legend pic.twitter.com/58QTIrIgjP
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 12, 2024