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NFL Legend Passes Away At 92

Published

2 months ago

September 13, 2024

The Detroit Lions are mourning the loss of club legend Joe Schmidt, who passed away at 92.

No cause of death was given for the former middle linebacker, according to the New York Post. The Lions announced Schmidt’s passing in a statement on Friday. “Joe Schmidt had the heart of a Lion, which made it appropriate that he was also the heart of our team,” Lions owner and 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. I share my deepest condolences with Marilyn and his children.”

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After an exceptional collegiate career at the University of Pittsburg, Schmidt was called up to the Lions where he played 13 seasons from 1953 to 1965 and earning the franchise two Super Bowl championships in that time. He went on to coach his former teammates for six years (1967-1972). He achieved 10 Pro Bowl nominations and eight All-Pro teams for his time on the turf. In addition, he was awarded NFL Defensive MVP for the 1960 and 1963 seasons. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1973.

Players and coaches who watched him during football’s golden era credited Schmidt with revolutionizing a position that previously held little strategy. His 24 interceptions and 16 fumble recoveries led strategists to redraw the middle linebacker position as one with a tremendous opportunity to change possession.

“As you probably know, he was one of the first to play middle linebacker and by doing so I think he helped create the present 4-3 defense by eliminating the position of middle guard which was then a problem. He probably is one of the finest that has played middle linebacker, nobody ever played it tougher. He was truly an innovator of the game of football,” late Lions owner William Clay Ford said at Schmidt’s induction ceremony in 1973.

After moving to the sidelines, Schmidt held an assistant coaching role with the Lions and finished his career as the franchise’s head coach where he finished with a 43-35-7 record. Asked toward the end of his life to name the toughest person to tackle he ever played against, Schmidt just laughed. “Nobody,” he said in a tribute video released by the Lions on X.