Theodore Alfred Schmitt (October 2, 1916 – March 11, 2001) was an American professional

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who played three seasons with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Early life and college

Theodore Alfred Schmitt was born on October 2, 1916, in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He attended

Carrick High School Carrick High School is a Public school (government funded), public school in the Carrick (Pittsburgh), Carrick neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. Carrick is one of ten high schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and one ...

in Pittsburgh. Schmitt was a member of the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

of the

from 1934 to 1937 and a three-year

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from 1935 to 1937. The 1936 Panthers were named national champions by the contemporary

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math system and retroactively years later by the Football Researchers poll and

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math system. The Panthers were consensus national champions in 1937. He later returned to Pittsburgh and graduated with a master's degree in 1947.

Professional career

Schmitt signed with the

in 1938 after going undrafted in the

1938 NFL draft The 1938 NFL draft was held on December 12, 1937, at the Sherman House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The draft consisted of 12 rounds and 110 player selections. It began with the Cleveland Rams using the first overall pick of the draft to selec ...

. He played in all 11 games, starting two, for the Eagles during the 1938 season. He appeared in all 11 games for the second consecutive season, starting eight, in 1939 and scored a fumble recovery touchdown. Schmitt played in all 11 games for the third straight year, starting two, in 1940 and rushed once for six yards while also catching one pass for eight yards. He became a free agent after the season.

Coaching career and personal life

Schmitt was an assistant football coach at

St. Joseph's Preparatory School St. Joseph's Preparatory School, known as "St. Joe's Prep" or simply "The Prep", is an urban, private, Catholic, college preparatory school run by the Society of Jesus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The school was founded in 1851 ...

in Philadelphia during his NFL career. He became the head coach at Sharon Hill High School in

Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania Sharon Hill is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,697 at the 2010 census. Currently the population stands at 6,356 residents. Government The government of Sharon Hill operat ...

in 1941. He then served four years in the

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during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and returned to Sharon Hill after the war. Schmitt became an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Panthers in 1948. He was then an assistant coach for the

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the college sports teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports teams for women and men at Harva ...

from 1950 to 1960. He joined the UMass Redmen as an assistant coach in 1961. Schmitt died on March 11, 2001, in

Port Orange, Florida Port Orange is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area. Port Orange is a principal city in the Fun Coast region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Ted 1916 births 2001 deaths Players of American football from Pittsburgh American football guards Pittsburgh Panthers football players Philadelphia Eagles players High school football coaches in Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Harvard Crimson football coaches UMass Minutemen football coaches Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania United States Navy personnel of World War II