Joseph Paul Schmidt (born January 19, 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. Early years Schmidt was born in Pittsburgh in 1932 and grew up in the borough of Brentwood. Schmidt was the youngest of four brothers. Two of his brothers died while Schmidt was still a boy, one after falling from a tree and the other while serving in the military in June 1944. His father died in February 1945. Another brother played football at Carnegie Tech and recruited Joe to play semipro football at age 14. He later enrolled at Brentwood High School and played football. University of Pittsburgh Schmidt attended the University of Pittsburgh, playing on the school's football team for three years, from 1950 to 1952. During his first two years as a Pittsburgh football player, the team compiled losing records of 1–8 in 1950 and 3–7 in 1951. As a senior, Schmidt was the captain of the 1952 Pittsburgh team that compiled a 6–3 record, including victories over Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Army. Prior to the Notre Dame game, Schmidt gave a speech that was credited with motivating the team to defeat the heavily favored Notre Dame team. In the Notre Dame game, Schmidt sustained a concussion and hemorrhage that