Legendary Detroit Lions linebacker Joe Schmidt has died at 92, the team announced in a statement Thursday.
Schmidt helped the Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team. The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football´s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
‘Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,’ said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973.
‘At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.’
Legendary Detroit Lions linebacker and head coach Joe Schmidt has died at 92
Schmidt is pictured before the 1956 NFL Pro Bowl, where he was coached by LA’s Sid Gillman
There was an outpouring of grief on social media following the announcement of Schmidt’s passing as many Lions fans remembered his impact on the team.
‘When I was a kid, learning all I could about Football & especially the Detroit Lions, every bit of information I read just seemed to indicate that Joe Schmidt was a true superstar,’ one fan wrote. ‘He was the anchor & best player on the Greatest era of Lions football.’
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
‘Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I´ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,’ Schmidt said. ‘Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.’
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt´s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise´s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
Lions linebacker Joe Schmidt(56) helps return a kick during a game at the LA Coliseum
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL´s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
‘We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,’ Schmidt recalled. ‘We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.’
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit´s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL´s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league´s centennial season. Of course, he´d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
Joe Schmidt (No. 56) is seen stopping legendary Browns fullback Jim Brown at the line
‘It was a dream of mine to play football,’ Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. ‘I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn´t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ”OK, I’ll prove it to you.”’
The Lions announced Schmidt’s death in a statement on Thursday.
‘We are saddened to hear of the passing of Joe Schmidt,’ the statement began. ‘Joe was a Lion through and through, having spent his entire career in Detroit, including 13 years as a linebacker and six seasons as our head coach.
‘He patrolled the middle of our defense with such ferocity that he was named to 10 consecutive Pro Bowls from 1955 to 1964. Joe was an enduring link to our Championship era and one of the proudest Lions you will ever meet.
‘He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and was an inaugural member of our team’s ring of honor, the Pride of the Lions, which will ensure his place in our history forever.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Marilyn, and the entire Schmidt family as we all mourn his passing.’
