Mitchell Schwartz
Mitchell Bryan Schwartz (born June 8, 1989) is a former American football offensive tackle who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Schwartz was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round (37th overall) of the 2012 NFL draft.
No. 72, 71
June 8, 1989
Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
320 lb (145 kg)
Palisades Charter
(Pacific Palisades, California)
California (2007–2011)
2012 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37
134
134
134
Schwartz played college football at the University of California, Berkeley. He started all 51 games possible from 2008 to 2011, at either left tackle or right tackle. He was named second-team All-Pac-10 as a junior, and first-team All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Academic as a senior. He also earned honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic (2008–10), and the Brick Muller Award as Cal's Most Valuable Offensive Lineman (2009–11), for three seasons each.[1]
He was named to the Pro Football Focus (PFF) 2012 All-Rookie Team, lauded for his "top-notch pass blocking", and to the 2014 PFF All-Third Year Team. He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2015. Following the 2018 season, he was named the winner of the Pro Football Focus Matthews Award, given out by the organization to their highest-rated offensive lineman each year, and was named a First-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. In 2019 he was named to the CBS Sports' NFL All-Decade Team. He has started over 120 consecutive games, and had 7,894 consecutive snaps (which made him the active iron man leader in the snaps category).[2][3]
High school career[edit]
Schwartz attended Palisades Charter High School. Playing football for his high school team, on which he was the team captain, he was regarded as a three-star offensive tackle prospect by Rivals.com; Scout.com ranked him #23.[14][15]
He began as a quarterback, but quickly moved over to offensive tackle where he was a four-year starter.[4] Schwartz was a two-time All-State "underclassman" pick, and earned 2005 All-Western League and All-City honors as a junior.[1] As a senior, he was the 2006 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Los Angeles City Offensive Lineman of the Year, 2006 Western League Lineman of the Year, and received Prepstar 2006 All-West Region honors.[1][16]
Schwartz was also an all-league pitcher on the school baseball team.[4][17] Academically, he had a 4.3 GPA and a 34 ACT, and was named to the Principal's Honor Roll and Dean's List.[1][15]
Coming out of high school, he received football offers from Cal, Michigan, Stanford, Virginia, Tennessee, Oregon, and Washington State.[17] At a spring LA Scout.com combine, Schwartz measured 6 feet 5.5 inches (1.969 m) tall, and weighed 303 pounds (137 kg). He ran the 40-yard dash in 5.28, and had a time in the 20-yard shuttle of 4.87; he also had a time in the shuttle of 4.78 at the Stanford Nike combine.[17][18]
College career[edit]
Schwartz attended the University of California, Berkeley, from 2007 to December 2011. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in American Studies, with an emphasis on human development and identity.[1][19]
He redshirted in 2007.[20] In 2008, Schwartz started all 13 games, the first three games at right tackle and the remaining 10 at left tackle.[1] He was named a second-team Freshman All-American by College Football News, received the Bob Tessier Award as Cal's Most Improved Offensive Lineman, and received honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic honors.[1]
In 2009, Schwartz started all 13 games at right tackle.[1] He was Lindy's second-team preseason All-Pac-10, was Athlon third-team preseason All-Pac-10, was a Phil Steele preseason, midseason, and postseason third-team All-Pac-10 choice, received All-Pac-10 honorable mention and Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention, and received Cal's Brick Muller Award as its Most Valuable Offensive Lineman.[21]
In 2010, he started all 12 games at left tackle, heading an offensive line that blocked for 1,167-yard rusher Shane Vereen.[1] Schwartz was a second-team preseason All-Pac-10 choice by Athlon, Lindy's, and Steele, as Steele also listed him as the nation's # 63 draft-eligible tackle.[1] He was a second-team All-Pac-10 choice, and was first-team on Phil Steele's midseason All-Pac-10 team and second-team on his postseason All-Pac-10 squad.[1] Schwartz was a member of the Jewish Sports Review's 2010 College Football All-America Team, received Cal's Brick Muller Award as its Most Valuable Offensive Lineman for the second straight year, and won Cal's Andy Smith Award as its player with the most Big "C" time.[1][22][23][24] He was also an honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic selection for the third consecutive season.[1]
In 2011, Schwartz started all 13 games at left tackle.[1] It was the fourth consecutive season in which he started each of Cal's games.[1] He headed an offensive line that blocked for 1,322-yard rushing tailback Isi Sofele, who rushed for the sixth-highest total in Cal history.[1] He helped the team average 28.3 points and 401.5 yards per game.
Schwartz was a first-team All-Pac-10 preseason choice of Athlon, Phil Steele (who named him the nation's # 24 draft-eligible tackle), and Sporting News, a Lindy's second-team preseason All-Pac-10 pick (whom they listed as one of Cal's "Players to Watch"), and a third-team preseason All-American by GoDaddy.com and Sporting News.[1] He was a second-team midseason All-Pac-12 selection of Steele.[1] He received Cal's Brick Muller Award as its Most Valuable Offensive Lineman for the third straight season, and received a Cort Majors Captains Award on offense.[1] He was on the watch lists for the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award.[1] He was voted first-team All-Pac-12, and was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection of ESPN Pac-12 Blog and Phil Steele, as well as a second-team pick of College Sports Madness and Yahoo! Sports.[1]
In his California career, Schwartz started all 51 games possible from 2008 to 2011, at either left tackle (35 starts) or right tackle (16 starts), falling 1 start short of Syd'Quan Thompson's school record of 52, and missing only one snap—when he had to come out because his shoelace snapped, and he had to have it replaced.[1][25] At the 2012 Senior Bowl, he started at right tackle for the winning North team, and had what was viewed as an impressive showing.[1][26]
Professional career[edit]
NFL combine[edit]
Schwartz took part in the 2012 NFL Combine. He completed 23 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press, and had times of 5.38 in the 40-yard dash, 7.86 in the 3-cone drill, and 4.87 in the 20-yard shuttle. He had a vertical jump of 26.5", and a broad jump of 7' 5".[1][27] He has a 33.5-inch arm length, an 81 5/8-inch wingspan, 10-inch hands, and wears size 18 shoes.[27][28][29] Due to his shoe size, in college one of his nicknames was "Bigfoot" (he was also known as "Big Show", because he bears a facial and physical resemblance to the giant WWE pro wrestler Big Show).[30]
He scored a 35 on the Wonderlic test at the combine. A score of 20–21 is considered average.[31][32]
Honors[edit]
In 2016, Schwartz was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[69]