Christopher Schultz (February 16, 1960 – March 4, 2021) was a Canadian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

player who was an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

in 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 majo ...

(NFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

(CFL). He primarily played with the CFL

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the CFL East Division, East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based i ...

. Schultz played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

. He was a sportscaster with Canadian sports television channel TSN.

Early years

Schultz attended

Aldershot High School Aldershot School is a grade 7–12 school located in Burlington, Ontario. Although the current school building was constructed in 1959-1960, the original Aldershot School was built in 1870, making the name the oldest in continual use for an educa ...

Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton m ...

, where he was a part of 2 football championships. He also practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. He accepted a football scholarship from the

. He was recruited by Arizona head coach Tony Mason as a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

, where he played his first three years. One of the strongest players on the team, he was converted into a

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

as a senior.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Schultz was selected by 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 ...

in the seventh round (189th overall) of the

1983 NFL Draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York S ...

. He was also selected by the

Arizona Wranglers The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American Football team in the United States Football League that, name-wise, existed from late 1982 to mid-1985. They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, a s ...

in the

1983 USFL Territorial Draft The 1983 USFL Territorial Draft was the first Territorial Draft of the United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The l ...

. On August 21,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. He was activated later in the year and played in 5 games 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

, he was lost for the season after injuring his right knee in the third preseason game. After only playing in 5 games with no starts during his first two years, in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Phil Pozderac Philip Maurice Pozderac (born December 19, 1959) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame. Early years Pozderac attended G ...

injured his knee during the third game of the season, which opened the door for Schultz to start at

, only to return to a backup role when Pozderac was healthy. He eventually regained the starting position from the thirteenth game until the playoffs, but struggled while playing against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

. He was waived on August 26,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

Toronto Argonauts

, Schultz returned to Canada to play for the

of the

(CFL), who owned his rights after drafting him in the first round of the

1982 CFL Draft The 1982 CFL Draft composed of six rounds where 72 Canadian football players were chosen from eligible Canadian universities and Canadian players playing in the NCAA. A total of 18 players were selected as territorial exemptions, with every team ...

. He played in 124 games for the Argos over his nine-year career. Schultz was named a CFL All-Star twice (

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

), appeared in the Grey Cup in

and was a member of the 1991 Grey Cup championship team. In 2007, he was named to the Argonauts All-time team.

Personal life

Schultz was a CFL football sportscaster on

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by comm ...

. He also co-hosted a weekly one-hour sports radio program on

TSN 1050 CHUM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 1050 kHz. The station is owned and operated by Bell Media. CHUM's studios are co-located with TSN at 9 Channel Nine Court in the Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborou ...

in Toronto, called ''Football Sunday'' with

Mike Hogan Mike Hogan may refer to: * Mike Hogan (American football) (born 1954), former NFL running back * Mike Hogan (athlete) (born 1943), British Olympic hurdler * Mike Hogan (The Cranberries) (born 1973), member of Irish alternative rock band The Cran ...

during the CFL and NFL seasons. He was also the NFL Insider for TSN. On October 17, 2016, Schultz was part of a class inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

at the

Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel The Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel is a 1300-room, 43-story hotel in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, opened in 1972. It is the second-tallest all-hotel building in Toronto, after the Delta Toronto Hotel. History The hotel opened on October 16 ...

, where he spoke on the influence his father had on him. Schultz died of a heart attack on March 4, 2021 at the age of 61.

References

External links

Giant Schultz Gives America's Team' A Canadian Flavor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Chris 1960 births 2021 deaths American football offensive tackles Arizona Wildcats football players Canadian Football League announcers Canadian football offensive linemen Canadian people of German descent Canadian players of American football Canadian radio sportscasters Canadian television sportscasters Dallas Cowboys players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Sportspeople from Burlington, Ontario Toronto Argonauts players University of Arizona alumni