required him to be hospitalized for ten days. At the end of the 1952 season, Schmidt was selected as a first-team All-American by the International News Service. He was also selected to play in the Senior Bowl. Detroit Lions Playing career Two NFL championships (1953–1957) Schmidt was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the seventh round (85th overall pick) of the 1953 NFL Draft. He joined a team that had won the 1952 NFL Championship and led the NFL in scoring defense. The Lions and Schmidt both had doubts as to whether a seventh round pick would be able to make the lineup of the best defense in the NFL. However, Schmidt impressed in the pre-season and was included in the regular season roster. In the first game of the 1953 season, he helped the Lions to a 38–21 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers; the Detroit Free Press wrote that Schmidt was "making tackles all over the field" and was a key in holding the Steelers to 96 rushing yards. Schmidt appeared in all 12 regular season games, intercepted two passes, and helped the Lions to the 1953 NFL Championship with the league's second best scoring defense. Schmidt again appeared in all 12 regular season games for the 1954 Detroit Lions team that compiled a 9–2–1 record and won the NFC Western Division but lost to the Browns in the 1954 NFL Championship Game despite Schmidt's interception of an Otto Graham pass. At the end of the 1954 season, Schmidt was selected by the Associated Press (AP) as a first-team All-Pro player and by the United Press (UP) as a second-team All-Pro. He was also invited to play in the Pro Bowl, the first of ten consecutive Pro Bowls in Schmidt's career. In 1955, following an injury to Bobby Layne and the retirement of Les Bingaman, the Lions dropped to 3–9, and the team fell to ninth of 12 NFL teams in scoring defense, but Schmidt continued to impress. He appeared in all 12 games for the Lions, tied an NFL record with eight fumble recoveries, and won the Lions' President's Trophy as the team's most valuable player. He was selected by both the AP and the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) as a first-team All-Pro and by the UP as a second-team All-Pro. In August 1956, Schmidt was elected as the team captain, a designation he would hold for the