Joe Schmidt of the Detroit Lions has died at the age of 92

Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who led the Detroit Lions to their last championship in 1957, died Wednesday, his family told the Free Press Thursday. He was 92.

Schmidt spent two decades as a player and coach with the Lions and is one of the most revered figures in franchise history. He was selected to the All-Pro first team eight times, was a member of the NFL's 100th Anniversary Team and helped revolutionize defense by introducing the modern middle linebacker position.

“He was like a coach on the field,” Schmidt's teammate Roger Zatkoff told the Free Press in June 2020. “I can remember situations where he would come to us and say, 'Hey, cheat over here, one guy to your left,' because something else was going on and we needed to make an adjustment. And the reality is, like Bobby Layne, he was making adjustments without the coaches knowing.”