Schmitt: In the Middle Of Things

By Mark Herrmann | Staff Writer

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IT IS ALL TRUE, said John Schmitt, who was literally at the center of the Jets' hard-to-believe Super Bowl III win. Even the folklore is true. ``We were studying films of the Colts up to the Wednesday before the Super Bowl. Then Weeb wouldn't let us watch any more because he thought we were getting overconfident,'' Schmitt said, referring to coach Weeb Ewbank. ``I'm dead serious. This is not bull.''

The Jets, classic longshots, were as confident as any 18-point underdog ever had been. Then they played a game that made so many believers it changed pro football. The believing had come especially easy for Schmitt, the offensive lineman who knew more than most Jets about what it meant to be a longshot.

He had not considered himself a pro football prospect when he was a Long Island teenager. He didn't give it much thought when he was graduating from Hofstra and looking for a job to support him and his young wife. Yet he was able to build a career that spanned 11 solid years and one unforgettable day.

Jan. 12, 1969: Schmitt snapped the ball to the man who had guaranteed a win. Schmitt, the center, was in the middle of the game that gave the American Football League credibility and established the Super Bowl as a national institution. Jets 16, Colts 7.

``When I watch playoff games now, I see so many good teams that don't even get to the Super Bowl and I realize how special the Super Bowl is,'' Schmitt said. ``I really realize what a great gift from God it was to be there.''

Schmitt had been a gifted player at Seton Hall High School in Patchogue, but not a blue-chip star. He did hear from Southern California and North Carolina, he said, ``but I was so backward, I didn't know they paid your way to go see those schools.'' He decided to attend Kings Point.

That didn't stop Hofstra coach Howdy Myers from visiting Schmitt's Central Islip home. Myers asked Schmitt if he had a girlfriend and Schmitt said yes. ``Then he reminded me, `You know, at the Merchant Marine Academy [Kings Point], you have to go out to sea,''' Schmitt said. ``He asked me where my girlfriend lived. I said Massapequa and he said, `You know, that's only 15 minutes from Hofstra.'''

Myers also told Schmitt that his Hofstra teammates would be his friends for the rest of his life, which is the way it has turned out. Schmitt and some fellow Flying Dutchmen (1960-64) still talk about the time they beat Delaware, a small-college power, and the hot rivalries against Post and Kings Point.

It seemed like that was as far as his football career was going to take him, which was fine. He and Joanne had been married after his junior year and he needed a steady job. ``I did have some feelers from the Dallas Texans, who are now the Kansas City Chiefs, and from the Canadian Football League,'' he said. But Myers was friendly with Jets coach Weeb Ewbank, who offered a tryout and eventually an $8,500 contract.

Schmitt worked hard -- in season and out. He was a salesman for Sun Oil Co., covering Long Island from Ronkonkoma east. He hosted a radio show on WGBB five nights a week. He got into casualty insurance -- ``I'd work before practice, after practice,'' he said - and joined partner Stan Sussman in starting a life insurance company that has grown and thrived for 25 years.

The former center, who spent 10 years with the Jets and one with the Packers, lives in Brookville and spends much of the winter in Florida. He and Joanne have three children - John Jr., who played on the tennis tour, Tim and Jackie - and two grandchildren. ``I'm 55 now, but in my head I feel I'm about 35. Talk to my wife and she'll say I act like I'm 19,'' he said. He is very friendly with Johnny Unitas, who was injured and played only part of Super Bowl III against the Jets, and Joe Namath, who reassured Schmitt about the ex-lineman's upcoming knee-replacement surgery.

Roots mean a lot to Schmitt. He made it a point to visit Wayne Chrebet when the Hofstra graduate made it as a longshot on the Jets roster. When other Jets alumni later criticized Ewbank for breaking up the team, Schmitt said only how grateful he was for the chance to play.

He's especially grateful for the chance to play in that one game. He vividly recalls how the Jets controlled the Colts' defensive stunts and how the Baltimore players swore at each other. He'll never forget Namath having guaranteed the win. ``We said, `Oops, there goes Joe again.' It made those [Baltimore] guys really crazy. They wanted to kill us the first part of the game,'' he said.

But the Jets didn't bend. Said Schmitt: ``We really did believe in ourselves.''