Geoff Schwartz

Geoff Schwartz
No. 74  New York Giants
Position: Offensive guard
Personal information
Date of birth: July 11, 1986
Place of birth: Los Angeles, California
Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight: 340 lb (154 kg)
Career information
High school: Palisades Charter High School (Los Angeles)
College: Oregon
NFL draft: 2008 / Round: 7 / Pick: 241
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
  • Second-team All-Pac-10 (2007)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2013
Games played: 61
Games started: 26
Fumble recoveries: 1
Stats at NFL.com

Geoffrey Isaiah "Geoff" Schwartz (born July 11, 1986) is an American football offensive guard for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall, and weighs 340 pounds (154 kg).[1] NFL.com described him as a "naturally strong mountain of a man".[2]

Schwartz played college football at the University of Oregon, for the Oregon Ducks. He started for three years at right tackle, and in his senior year was a second-team All-Pac-10 selection.

Schwartz was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played in all 16 games for the Panthers in 2009, and started all 16 games in 2010 playing both right tackle and right guard, but was injured in 2011. He played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2012, and played all 16 games for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013 while starting 7. In 2014, he signed a four-year deal to play for the New York Giants.

His brother, Mitchell Schwartz, is an offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns. They are the first Jewish brothers to play in the NFL since Ralph Horween and Arnold Horween, in 1923.

Early years and personal life

Schwartz was born in Los Angeles, California, weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces (4.3 kg). He is the son of Lee Schwartz, a business consultant to manufacturing companies, and Olivia Goodkin, an attorney.[3][4]

Schwartz is Jewish, and was raised in Conservative Judaism, observing all the Jewish holidays. He attended Hebrew school and synagogue Adat Shalom in West Los Angeles.[4][5][6][7] His Hebrew name is Gedalia Yitzhak.[4] When he is on the road during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, he carries a menorah with him on the road and lights its candles in his hotel room.[8]

Schwartz didn't start playing football until age 13.[9] Firstly, he was too heavy for the weight requirements of the local youth program.[9] Secondly, his parents wanted him to instead focus on studying for his Bar Mitzvah, a rite-of-passage for Jewish boys of that age.[4][9]

Geoff Schwartz's brother, Mitchell Schwartz, offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns

His brother, offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz, was a second-round pick and currently plays in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns. Geoff is the older of the two, an inch taller, 20 pounds heavier, and has a shoe size of 19 compared to his younger brother's size 18 shoe.[10] Geoff credits an excess of matzah ball soup and latkes for their size.[11]

They are joined by Gabe Carimi (Atlanta Falcons) as Jewish offensive linemen in the NFL.[12] Schwartz is "proud to be a role model to young Jewish kids and athletes, letting them know it’s possible for them to reach their goals."[8] Other Jewish football players in the NFL include Erik Lorig (fullback, New Orleans Saints), Taylor Mays (safety, Cincinnati Bengals), and Nate Ebner (safety, New England Patriots), while free agents include Adam Podlesh (punter), Antonio Garay (nose tackle, San Diego Chargers), Kyle Kosier (guard, Dallas Cowboys), Brian de la Puente (center, New Orleans Saints), and Igor Olshansky (defensive end, Miami Dolphins).[8][13][14][15][16] “We can’t have a minyan,” Schwartz laughed, referring to the Jewish requirement of 10 Jewish adults to conduct a service.[13] Geoff and Mitchell are the first Jewish brothers to play in the NFL since Ralph Horween and Arnold Horween in 1923.[8][17][18]

His father, speaking of the fact that he has two sons playing in the National Football League, said: "I just kvell."[19][20] His mother, commenting on having two sons play football, said:

I started out worrying that they were going to get hurt—but then I realized it was the other players I should be worrying about. They were like trucks hitting small cars. And I started to kind of feel like maybe this was their destiny.[4]

Schwartz got married in March 2014.[21]

High school

Schwartz attended Palisades Charter High School. There, he was the starting center on the basketball team. His nickname was "Ghost in the Post", because he was white, played in the center's "post" position, and was never passed the basketball.[22] He was also an All-League pitcher in baseball, throwing in the upper-80s miles-per-hour.[22][23][24] As a pitcher, he had a 13–6 record with a 1.30 ERA, 4 saves, and 130 strikeouts in his last two years.[24][25]

In addition, he played football for the high school team, on both the offensive line and the defensive line. He rotated from left tackle to right tackle and left guard to right guard on offense, between nose guard, defensive end, and defensive tackle on defense, and was the long snapper.[24] He was rated first-team All-City and All-Westside by the L.A. Times, California's 5th-best offensive line recruit by Tom Lemming, among the top 75 prep prospects in California by Super Prep, 36th on the Rivals.com list of the nation's top offensive tackle prospects, and included among the Tacoma News Tribune's Western One-hundred selections.[26]

College career

Schwartz played college football at Oregon for the Oregon Ducks, as he majored in political science.[27] He started for three years at right tackle, playing in 41 games (36 starts).[27][28] He had the team's best record in the squat strength training exercise, at 505 pounds (229 kg).[26]

In 2005, as a sophomore, he started all 12 games and allowed only three sacks.[27] In 2006, as a junior, he played in 12 games with 11 starts, as part of an offense that led the conference in rushing for the first time since 1955.[27] In 2007, as a senior he started all 13 games and helped the team lead the Pac-10 in rushing for a second consecutive year.[27] He was a second-team 2007 All-Pac-10 selection.[27] Schwartz holds the Pac-10 record for rushing by a right tackle, at 3 yards.[20]

Professional career

Carolina Panthers (2008–11)

Schwartz was drafted by the Panthers in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft. That year he was on the Panthers' practice squad, after being waived in the final training camp roster cut.[27]

In 2009, he played in all 16 games with 3 starts at right tackle, and helped the Panthers set team records with 2,498 rushing yards and 123 rushing first downs.[27] He helped running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart become the first NFL teammates to each rush for more than 1,100 yards in the same season.[28]

In 2010, he started all 16 games (the first 5 at right tackle, and the last 11 at right guard), and played 1,016 snaps.[27][29] In 2011, he was projected to start at right guard again. However, during a training camp practice he suffered an injured right hip consisting of a hip impingement (a bone spur in his femur that tore his hip cartilage). He spent the season on the injured reserve list, and had hip surgery in September 2011.[27][30][31]

Minnesota Vikings (2012)

On March 21, 2012, Schwartz signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings.[32] He played right guard in parts of 13 games for the team in 2012, and helped running back Adrian Peterson rush for 2,097 yards, just 9 yards short of the NFL single-season record.[28][29][33]

Kansas City Chiefs (2013)

Schwartz signed with the Kansas City Chiefs on March 15, 2013, and tweeted the news on Twitter.[34][35][36] His one-year contract was worth up to $1.2 million, including incentives.[37]

Schwartz was expected to compete either with Donald Stephenson to start at right tackle, or with Jon Asamoah and Jeff Allen for playing time at guard.[38][39][40] On October 27, Geoff played against his brother, Mitchell, for the first time.[33]

He played in all 16 games for the Chiefs, starting 7 of them, moving into the starting lineup at right guard in the latter part of the season.[41][42][43][44] He received a plus-18.6 Pro Football Focus grade in 549 snaps, the highest grade of any Chiefs offensive lineman, and was rated as the top free-agent guard by the site.[43] Pro Football Focus wrote:

"Schwartz has played as well as any [guard] not named Evan Mathis on a per-snap basis the last two years.... has an overall grade of +24.1 in 792 snaps (full season is typically 1000+ snaps) since he missed the whole 2011 season with a hip injury. While he had a superb year in pass protection with a pass blocking efficiency of 97.3 (ranked 11th), Schwartz’ calling card is his run blocking. He has elite power at the point of attack, but he also rarely gets beat cleanly. He had the sixth-lowest percentage of run snaps that took a downgrade among all guards."[45]

New York Giants (2014–present)

On March 12, 2014, Schwartz signed a four-year, $16.8 million deal with $6.2 million guaranteed with the New York Giants, after confirming the deal on Twitter.[44][46][47] ESPN reported that he was in line to start, most likely at left or right guard, for the Giants.[44] PFF and Rotoworld had rated him the #1 free agent guard.[46]

References

  1. ↑ "Geoff Schwartz, OT for the Minnesota Vikings". Nfl.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Draft Player Profiles – Geoff Schwartz (OL)". Nfl.com. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ Les Levine (May 3, 2012). "Browns tackle line problems with a Jew". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Rebecca Meiser (June 18, 2012). "Friday Night Lights: Geoff and Mitchell Schwartz are the First Jewish Brothers in the NFL Since 1923". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ "2011 NFL Football Preview". Jewish Sports Review 8 (87): 6–7. September–October 2011.
  6. ↑ Nate Bloom (September 22, 2011). "Celebrity Jews". Jweekly. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ Ron Kaplan (May 2, 2012). "More on Mitchell Schwartz, newest JFLer » Kaplan’s Korner on Jews and Sports". New Jersey Jewish News. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Traina, Jimmy (March 21, 2013). "Random Facts about Being a Jewish NFL Player". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Gitlin, Marty (August 7, 2012). "Browns OL Mitchell Schwartz and his brother, Geoff, roughhoused their way to the NFL". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  10. ↑ Tony Grossi (June 8, 2012). "Rookie Mitchell Schwartz is fitting in perfectly at right tackle". ESPN. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  11. ↑ "When the Browns play the Chiefs it will be the Schwartz-bowl for two brothers". WaitingForNextYear. October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  12. ↑ Person, Joseph (February 24, 2012). "Pair of Panthers' brothers are strong line prospects". Newsobserver.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Randy Covitz (October 23, 2013). "Chiefs’ Schwartz balances football and his Jewish faith". KansasCity.com. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  14. ↑ Ron Snyder (October 18, 2012). "Active Jewish NFL Players". Baltimore Jewish Times. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  15. ↑ Ron Kaplan. "JFL update, Week 1 » Kaplan’s Korner on Jews and Sports". New Jersey Jewish News. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  16. ↑ Nate Bloom (October 4, 2012). "Celebrity Jews". Jweekly. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  17. ↑ Gregg Rosenthal (June 19, 2012). "Schwartzes first Jewish brothers in NFL since 1923". NFL.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  18. ↑ Barnathan, Lee (May 2, 2012). "Browns pick Schwartz in NFL draft". Jewish Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  19. ↑ Barnathan, Lee (April 25, 2012). "Nothing trivial about these Jews on the gridiron". Jewish Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Steve Goldberg (December 2010). "Panthers' Geoff Schwartz Still Holds Tight to his Jewish Heritage" (PDF). Charlotte Jewish News. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  21. ↑ Marcia Montgomery (October 24, 2013). "Chiefs’ Geoff Schwartz scores at HBHA". Kcjc.com. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Sansevere, Bob (July 3, 2012). "Minnesota Vikings guard Geoff Schwartz: 'I'm a lot more than a football player.'". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  23. ↑ Nate Bloom (September 24, 2009). "Pigskin Hebrews, 2009 edition". Jweekly. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 "Up Close and Personal; University of Oregon Media Guide 2005". Geoffschwartz.net. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  25. ↑ Gantt, Darin (April 17, 2011). "Panthers' Schwartz at home coaching pitchers at Fort Mill". Rock Hill Herald. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Geoff Schwartz, Oregon, NFL Draft". CBS Sports. June 11, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 27.7 27.8 27.9 Strickland, Bryan (August 29, 2011). "Carolina Panthers: Geoff Schwartz". Panthers.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 "Chiefs sign offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz". Fox4 Newsroom. March 15, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Thomas Emerick (March 15, 2013). "Kansas City Chiefs: Andy Reid Beefs Up Line, Signs Geoff Schwartz". Rantsports.com. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  30. ↑ Duke Manyweather (July 26, 2012). "Pro Spotlight: Geoff Schwartz". Beyond the Combine. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  31. ↑ Patrick Allen (September 21, 2008). "Chiefs Expected to Sign OT Geoff Schwartz". Arrowhead Addict. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  32. ↑ Evan Silva (March 21, 2012). "Vikings agree to deal with guard Geoff Schwartz". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Breech, John (June 11, 2008). "Chiefs sign ex-Viking Geoff Schwartz". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  34. ↑ Ferrin, Reid (March 15, 2013). "Chiefs Sign Free Agent OL Geoff Schwartz". Kcchiefs.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  35. ↑ Darin Gantt (March 15, 2013). "Chiefs continue busy offseason, sign Geoff Schwartz". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  36. ↑ Geoff Schwartz (March 15, 2013). "Twitter / GeoffSchwartz76: Excited to officially be a new member of the @kcchiefs!". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  37. ↑ Tom Pelissero (March 15, 2013). "Geoff Schwartz leaves Vikings to sign one-year deal with Kansas City". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  38. ↑ Adam Teicher (March 15, 2013). "Chiefs sign free-agent tackle Geoff Schwartz". Kansas City Star. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  39. ↑ "Chiefs add veteran offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz to bolster depth". Fox News. March 15, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  40. ↑ Thorman, Joel (March 11, 2013). "Chiefs free agency: KC expected to sign former Panthers, Vikings offensive lineman". Arrowhead Pride. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  41. ↑ Conor Orr (March 11, 2014). "NFL free agency 2014: Giants in on G/T Geoff Schwartz". NJ.com. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  42. ↑ Mike Wilkening. "Rams release Harvey Dahl, reportedly "showing interest" in Geoff Schwartz". nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Terez A. Paylor (February 28, 2014). "Chiefs meet with guard Geoff Schwartz’s agent during combine". KansasCity.com. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 Graziano, Dan. "New York Giants begin line rebuild with Geoff Schwartz". Espn.go.com. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  45. ↑ "New York Giants' Potential Free-Agent Target: Geoff Schwartz, OG, Kansas City Chiefs". Big Blue View. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 "Geoff Schwartz Signing: Free-agent guard to sign with New York Giants". Big Blue View. December 18, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  47. ↑ "NFL free agents 2014: Geoff Schwartz's contract details with Giants". NJ.com. Retrieved March 12, 2014.

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