&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Joe_Schmidt_(Pitt).jpg) Schmidt from The 1953 Owl, Pittsburgh yearbook | |||||||||
| No. 56 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | January 18, 1932 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Brentwood (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||
| College: | Pittsburgh | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1953 / Round: 7 / Pick: 85 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| As a coach: | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||
| Regular season: | 43–34–7 (.554) | ||||||||
| Postseason: | 0–1 (.000) | ||||||||
| Career: | 43–35–7 (.547) | ||||||||
| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||
| Coaching stats at PFR | |||||||||
Joseph Paul Schmidt (born January 18, 1932) is an American former professional football player and coach. He played as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions for 13 years from 1953 to 1965. He won two NFL championships with the Lions (1953 and 1957), and, between 1954 and 1963, he played in ten consecutive Pro Bowl games and was selected each year as a first-team All-Pro player. He was also voted by his fellow NFL players as the NFL's most valuable defensive player in 1960 and 1963, named to the NFL 1950s All-Decade Team, and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973.
From 1967 to 1972, Schmidt was the head coach of the Detroit Lions. In six years under Schmidt, the Lions compiled a 43–34–7 record and finished in second place each year from 1969 to 1972. After retiring from the Lions, Schmidt worked as a manufacturer's representative in the automobile industry in Detroit.
A native of Pittsburgh, he played college football for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers team from 1950 to 1952. He was selected by the International News Service as a first-team All-American in 1952 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.