Man Against the Poppers

Late in the rain-drenched game at Detroit's Briggs Stadium, the mud-daubed players blended into a black, slithering mess. Numbers disappeared, so did faces. Shivering spectators could barely tell one of the home-town Lions from an invading Green Bay Packer. But by then the Lions had splashed to the game's single, spectacular touchdown, booted three field goals, scored a safety, and had given up only two field goals in return. Their defensive team showed no signs of permitting the Packers to escape from an 18-6 defeat. And by then, no one needed to see a number or recognize a face to spot the hero of Detroit's defensive success. The man in the middle of almost every pile-up in the muck was the Lions' great middle linebacker. Joseph Schmidt, 25.

Red Dog & Pop. The damp victory kept the Lions running well toward the front in the race for professional football's Western Conference championship. And even the Lions' veteran (30) Quarterback Bobby Layne. the man with the golden arm. admits that it is such defensive experts as Schmidt that keep the competition close. "Everyone is using a four-three defense* now," explains Layne. "And from the four-three they can do anything. Say the four linemen rush you --then you've got seven men in the secondary, and you've really got to pinpoint your passes. Or they can 'red dog' you nice, with the four linemen and three linebackers all coming in on you."

This sort of versatile shifting defense demands a versatile anchor man and, says Layne, "Joe is the finest in the league. He doesn't pop like a lot of others. A lot of these guys hit high and hard, and there's a big pop when their shoulder pads bounce off the guy they're after. The pop gets the fans all shuddering, but the poppers are the guys who miss the tackles. Joe just doesn't miss."

Why Be a Hero? A blond bull who packs 214 Ibs. on his short-necked, 6-ft. frame, Pitt Alumnus Schmidt is a quiet, serious competitor. He works hard at keeping in shape (a habit that makes him something of an exception among the rowdy Lions), and in five years of pro ball has shown a remarkable talent for holding onto his looks. "Ever since the Philadelphia Eagles broke my nose in 1953," says Joe modestly, "I've worn a face guard. Not that I've got any beauty to lose--but why be a hero?"

Lion Defensive Coach Buster Ramsey, for one, prefers a touch of meanness to a taste for heroics. "We don't hire linebackers that aren't mean," admits Ramsey readily. "And the first few days on the practice field in 1953 you could tell that Schmidt was a man we could use. But unlike some linebackers, he's clean at being mean." Says Schmidt simply: "I tackle low and hard. There's only one reason for a high, crashing tackle--to hurt a man. It gives me just as much satisfaction to nail a hard-running back on the line of scrimmage as it does for a back to make a long run and score a touchdown."

* Two ends and two tackles on the defensive line with three linebackers close behind them.

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