Schwartz Is NFL Iron Man

Mitchell Schwartz is entering his seventh NFL season and in a sport where injuries are commonplace, he has yet to miss a game in his career.

The former Palisades High standout is an offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, who will travel to Los Angeles for their opener Sept. 9 against the Chargers. Schwartz has become football’s “Iron Man,” having been on the field for 6,351 consecutive snaps. After a momentous offseason in which he got married and honeymooned in Florida, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound tackle is eager to extend his streak of regular season starts—96 and counting.   

Schwartz was a two-time All-State underclassman and earned All-Western League and All-City honors his junior year. As a senior in 2006 he was the CIF Los Angeles City Offensive Lineman of the Year, Western League Lineman of the Year and a Prepstar All-West Region selection. He also pitched on the baseball team and, had a 4.3 GPA and was named to the Principal’s Honor Roll and Dean’s List.

Schwartz received offers from Cal, Michigan, Stanford, Virginia, Tennessee, Oregon, and Washington State before choosing Cal, where, after redshirting in 2007,  he started every game for four straight years—a total of 51—while earning his bachelor’s degree in American Studies.

Schwartz was picked in the second round (37th overall) by the Cleveland Browns in the 2012 NFL Draft. He started all 16 games and was on the field for all 1,064 offensive snaps his rookie year, starting a trend that would continue for the next five years.

In March of 2016, Schwartz signed a five-year, $33 million deal with the Chiefs, making him among the highest-paid right tackles in the league.

Schwartz macde the All-Pro Second Team each of the last two seasons and made the PFWA All-Rookie squad in 2012. He led Kansas City to the AFC West title, but the Chiefs lost to Tennessee 22-21 in the Wild Card playoffs.

A native Palisadian, Schwartz didn’t start playing football until his freshman year at Pali High, following in the footsteps of older brother Geoff, who played football, basketball and baseball for the Dolphins, played collegiately at Oregon and was a right tackle and guard for four NFL teams before announcing his retirement in February 2017.

Mitchell and Geoff are the first Jewish brothers to play in the NFL since Ralph Horween and Arnold Horween in 1923. Their book “Eat My Schwartz: Our Story of NFL Football, Food, Family, and Faith” was published in 2016.

While his younger brother is still competing in the trenches, Geoff is enjoying his “new” career as a writer for SB Nation and  host of a weekly podcast called “Block’em Up.” The 32-year-old received the Palisadian-Post Cup Award as the outstanding senior athlete at Pali High.