Owen Schmitt
| refer to caption Schmitt during his time at West Virginia | |||||||||||||
| Seattle Seahawks | |||||||||||||
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| Career information | |||||||||||||
| College: | West Virginia | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2008 / round: 5 / pick: 163 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2008 | |||||||||||||
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Owen Schmitt (born February 13, 1985 in Template:City-state) is an American football fullback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at West Virginia, where he became a legend in the state of West Virginia and WVU's lore.[1]
Early years
Schmitt played fullback, Defensive End, and Linebacker first at Paul VI Catholic High School and then Fairfax High School in Virginia.
Collegiate career
Wisconsin-River Falls
After graduation from high school, he enrolled at Wisconsin-River Falls. At River Falls, he posted a 1,063 yards and five touchdown performance his freshman year, which earned him Division III all-conference honors in only nine starting games.
West Virginia
Schmitt attended spring practice the next year at West Virginia University. Schmitt walked-on to the Mountaineers' squad, and was the starter for the 2005 season. His sophomore season was his breakout year. He blocked for various runners, but after the mid-point of the season, freshman Steve Slaton earned the starting role at halfback. Along with quarterback Pat White, Schmitt and Slaton teamed up to make one of the best rushing tandems in the NCAA. Schmitt totaled 380 yards and two touchdowns, while Slaton recorded 1,128 yards.
In 2006, Slaton, White, and Schmitt were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's regional "Big Man On Campus" article. With high expectations, the Mountaineers finished with an 11-2 record. Schmitt rushed for 351 yards and seven touchdowns on the season, also recording one receiving touchdown. Slaton rushed for 1,744 yards. Schmitt's biggest game was in the come-from-behind bowl game win against Georgia Tech, where he filled in for the injured Slaton, rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns.
Schmitt earned NSCA Strength All-American honors at the end of the season, as he bulked up from 245 pounds to 260. After the season he was named "College football's top workout freak" by ESPN.com.[2]
In 2007, his senior year, Schmitt was arguably one of the best fullbacks in the nation. He took many snaps at tight end in spring practice, where head coach Rich Rodriguez lined him up occasionally. Schmitt's first big game of the season came against Maryland when he carried the ball four times for 46 yards, including a 44-yard run early in the 31-14 win. According to ESPN during the game, Schmitt had broken eight face masks in his career, too that point. In the next game against East Carolina, Schmitt rushed for 32 yards on four carries with two receptions for nine yards. Against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, he earned MVP honors for the game with 39 yards on eight carries for two touchdowns. He also had a 31-yard reception(where he hurdled one defender and ran over another) and a 27 yard punt that was downed inside the Syracuse 10-yard line on a trick play. In the 28-23 victory over #22 Cincinnati, he rushed for 19 yard on six carries, including the first score of the game with a four-yard touchdown run. He now has 10 broken facemasks, after the Louisville and Cincinnati games. Unfortunately West Virginia suffered a loss to Pitt in the last game of the season which knocked them out of the National Championship picture and matched them up with Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
Schmitt was awarded the Ira Errett Rodgers Award and Fred Schaus Captain's Award at the end of the season by head coach Rich Rodriguez. Schmitt finished out his collegiate career with three rushes for 64 yard and a touchdown in the 48-28 Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma. Schmitt's 57 yard touchdown was a career-long and was a school bowl record, until Noel Devine broke the record in the fourth quarter of that same game. It also marked the third consecutive bowl that Schmitt finished with a 50 yard run.
Schmitt ended the season with 106 knockdown blocks and 17 touchdown-resulting blocks and finished the season with two of his three "pooch" punts downed inside the 20-yard line, for an average of 20.3 yards-per-punt.
In Schmitt's career, he earned 21 career starts, four of which were at tight end. Through his 353 career carries (at WVU and Wisconsin-River Falls), he was only tackled for a loss four times. He also carried the ball for 1,003 yards, a 6.3 yard average, during his Mountaineer career. In his four collegiate seasons, Schmitt totaled 122 points and 2,398 all-purpose yards.[3]
Professional career
Pre-draft
Schmitt accepted an invitation to play in the 2008 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama following the season. He was then invited to the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine.[4] Schmitt's 26 bench reps were tied for the fourth best by a back in the Combine.[5]
At West Virginia's Pro Day on March 13, Schmitt ran a 4.72 40, a 4.11 short shuttle, a 6.85 three-cone, and an 11.85 long shuttle. He measured in at 6'2" and 249 lb (113 kg). He performed running back, fullback, and tight end drills without dropping a pass the entire day.[6] He also recorded a 9'9" broad jump and a 31.5" vertical jump. After the Pro Day, Schmitt worked out at the campus before traveling to interview with the Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins, and San Diego Chargers. He also worked-out with the Browns' running backs coach, Anthony Lynn.[7]
| Pre-draft measureables | |||||||||
| Wt | 40 yd | 20 ss | 3-cone | Vertical Jump | BP | Broad Jump | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *247 lb | *4.7s | 4.11 | 6.85 | 36" | *26 | 9'9" | |||
(* represents NFL Combine)
Seattle Seahawks
Schmitt was drafted in the fifth round (163rd overall) in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks. He was the second Mountaineer selected in the draft, behind Steve Slaton in the third round (89th overall) to the Houston Texans. Schmitt signed a four-year contract including a $158,000 signing bonus. In his first preseason game as a Seahawk, he rushed one time for two yards, caught two passes for 35 yards and also had two tackles on special teams against the Minnesota Vikings. The following week, against the Chicago Bears, he recorded one reception for 15 yards.
Schmitt did not play in the season opener against the Buffalo Bills, but he recorded one reception for six yards in the second game against the San Francisco 49ers. In the 27-3 victory over the St. Louis Rams, he recorded his first professional carry, for two yards. He earned his first career start against the Philadelphia Eagles later in the season, in which he had a block in the backfield on a 90-yard touchdown pass early in the game, a franchise record for longest pass play in team history.[8] He finished the game with two receptions for eight yards. In the following game, he carried the ball three times for 19 yards, including a 14-yard run, and recorded one reception for six yards against the Miami Dolphins. In the next loss to the Arizona Cardinals, he recorded a seven-yard reception. Schmitt finished his rookie season by totaling 5 carries for 21 yards and 6 receptions for 29 yards, playing in every game on the season except for the season-opening loss against Buffalo.
Personal
Growing up, John Riggins of the Washington Redskins was Schmitt's favorite football player.[9]
In the media
Schmitt is also featured on the cover of the PSP version of NCAA Football 09. Schmitt also shared a Sports Illustrated regional cover for the 2006 college football preview with teammates Steve Slaton and Pat White.
References
- ^ http://www.58wchs.com/includes/news_items/3/news_items_more.php?id=5029§ion_id=3
- ^ Bruce Feldman, College football's top workout freaks, ESPN.com, February 22, 2006, Accessed June 8, 2008.
- ^ NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Owen Schmitt
- ^ NIC: 2008 Official Invite List
- ^ NFL Events: Combine Top Performers
- ^ Owen Schmitt, RB, NFL Draft Prospect - KFFL
- ^ http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFLDraft/Draft+Extras/2008/schmittqa041708.htm
- ^ Stepping Up
- ^ NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Owen Schmitt