The Icon recently posted an article on the Pirate athlete with four Super Bowl rings, Neil Schmidt. Columnist Bill Herr has this first-hand account of Schmidt and his family.
During World War II, Neil Schmidt enlisted in the Navy before his senior year at Bluffton High School. After completing his service, he returned to Bluffton to complete his high school education. He starred on both the basketball and football teams in 1946. Those teams won the championship of the Western Buckeye League in each sport.
As an aside, Neil's sisters Mary and Alice were cheerleaders that year. Many in the Bluffton community know Mary (Schmidt) Amstutz. If you see Mary, ask her about her brother. Their other brother, Pete Schmidt, was the football coach at BHS my senior year when our team went 7-1-1.
Back to Neil. He was recruited by Purdue University to play football for the Boilermakers. In a game against Notre Dame's Fighting Irish when they were on a long winning streak, he helped Purdue break that streak by catching several passes for touchdowns. In later years, Neil was a college scout for the San Francisco Forty Niners professional football team.
His senior year I was seven years old and saw several football and basketball games. My brother Don was on those Pirate teams. In a basketball game in the old gym, I witnessed Neil Schmidt steal the ball from the opponent at mid court. What happened next is etched in my memory forever. He dribbled the ball and went from mid court to the opposite end and put the ball in the basket. What I'll never forget is how fast it happened. It was like watching a video and setting the DVD to speed X10. I'll never forget it.
Photos accompanying this story are from the 1947 Buccaneer, the Bluffton High School yearbook, which is archived by the Bluffton Public Library https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll28.
