Luke Schoonmaker (born September 28, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Early years

Born in 1998, Schoonmaker grew up in

Old Saybrook, Connecticut Old Saybrook is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,481 at the 2020 census. It contains the incorporated borough of Fenwick, as well as the census-designated places of Old Saybrook Center and Saybrook ...

. He attended Xavier High School, where he was a teammate of future

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

quarterback

Will Levis William Donovan Levis (; born June 27, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State and Kentucky before being selected by the Titans in the sec ...

. He transferred to Hamden Hall Country Day School after his sophomore season. As a junior, he missed time after being diagnosed with

mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adult ...

and suffering a ruptured spleen, which forced him to repeat the year. The next season he was the starter at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, leading the team to an 11-0 record and winning the NEPSAC Mike Atkins Bowl. He also played some offensive snaps at the

position. As a fifth year senior, he completed 18 passes, caught 22 passes, and carried as a rusher 34 times, while tallying 851 yards in combined passing, receiving and rushing yards. Rated as the top player in Connecticut, he committed to play college football at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

College career

Schoonmaker played for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

from 2018 until 2022. As a freshman in 2018, he appeared in one game as a backup tight end, earning his first varsity letter. As a sophomore in 2019, he appeared in 10 games and played as the fourth tight end in 9 contests, behind Sean McKeon, Nick Eubanks and

Erick All Erick All (born September 13, 2000) is an American football tight end for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He formerly played for the Michigan Wolverines. Early years All was born in 2000 in Indiana. At age five months, he was trapped in his playpen on the se ...

. He only played on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

in the tenth game against

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. He finished with 2 catches for 54 yards and one touchdown. On October 12, 2019, he scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 25-yard pass from Shea Patterson. As a junior in 2020, the schedule was limited to only 6 games because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. He appeared in all six games as the third-string tight end behind Eubanks and All, but did not register any offensive stats. As a senior in 2021, although he was the backup tight end behind All, he was able to start 10 games, when the team opened in a two-tight end formation. He was used mainly for his blocking and was part of a unit that won the

Joe Moore Award The Joe Moore Award is awarded annually to the best college football offensive line unit. The award is presented by the Joe Moore Foundation for Teamwork and they state that "The Joe Moore Award for the Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit will a ...

as the nation's top

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He appeared in nine games and caught 17 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns. He earned a reputation as Michigan's "most reliable blocking tight end and a player who never complained about his touches." After the 2021 season, Schoonmaker received honorable-mention All-Big Ten honors. In January 2022, with eligibility remaining, Schooonmaker announced that he would return to Michigan as a fifth-year senior. In July, he was named to the watch list for the Mackey Award. He was also rated by NFL scouts as Michigan's most draftable player among the team's senior players. In 2022, the starter at tight end All, appeared in the first three games (3 catches for 36 yards), before requiring back surgery, which opened the door for Schoonmaker to start for the rest of the season. On September 24, Schoonmaker caught a career-high seven passes for 72 yards and a touchdown against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. Against Indiana on October 8, he established another career-high with nine receptions, adding 67 receiving yards and a touchdown. He suffered an AC joint sprain to his left shoulder in the ninth game against

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

, which forced him to miss the next two contests. He was forced to leave the College Football Playoff semifinal game against

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

in the second quarter, after suffering a right shoulder injury. He finished the season with 12 appearances (11 starts), 35 receptions (second on the team), 418 receiving yards (third on the team) and 3 touchdowns. He also contributed to the

winning the

for the second straight year. In December 2022, he accepted an invite to the East–West Shrine Bowl. On January 9, 2023, Schoonmaker announced he would forego his final year of collegiate eligibility and declared for the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29 ...

College statistics

Professional career

Schoonmaker was drafted by the

in the second round, 58th overall, of the 2023 NFL Draft.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Michigan Wolverines bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoonmaker, Luke 1998 births Living people American football tight ends Michigan Wolverines football players People from Hamden, Connecticut Players of American football from New Haven County, Connecticut Dallas Cowboys players Hamden Hall Country Day School alumni