This is an article from his sophomore year.
Schmidt brothers have it covered for Libertyville's football team
All the doctors and nurses shared the same opinion when little Charlie Schmidt was born.
Not that he was really all that little.
"He was a 10-pound baby, a monster baby, really long, just really, really big," said Lynn Schmidt, Charlie's mom. "Everyone at the hospital was like, 'Oh, he's going to be a football lineman someday.' "
Sure enough, that's exactly what Charlie is, a big ol' offensive lineman at Libertyville. Just a sophomore, he is 6-foot-4, 255 pounds and still growing. And he starts for the Wildcats, who are 4-0 heading into tonight's big rivalry game against 3-1 Stevenson, the defending Class 8A state champion.
"Even though I'm just a sophomore, the older guys have really taken me in," Charlie Schmidt said. "They've helped me adapt. They've all been really nice to me."
Some have probably been nicer than others, such as Henry Schmidt, Charlie's brother.
Charlie, nicknamed Chaz, is carrying on a football tradition for the Schmidt family, albeit in just a slightly different form and fashion. Charlie has two older brothers, A.J., who played football at Libertyville and graduated in 2013 and Henry, who is a senior for the Wildcats now.
Both A.J., now a lacrosse player at St. Lawrence University in New York, and Henry are the furthest thing from linemen. Spry and lanky, A.J. and Henry use their speed and athleticism in sports. A.J. was a cornerback. Henry is a wide receiver.
Quite frankly, A.J. and Henry joke that neither of them look as though they're even related to Charlie. Both are around 5-foot-9 and well below 200 pounds. In fact, Henry is just 155 pounds, "dripping wet," says Libertyville head coach Mike Jones. While Henry wears a size 11 football cleat, Charlie is in a size 15.
"It's kind of weird," Henry Schmidt said. "All of my friends give me the business about how my little brother is so much bigger than me. They're surprised I'm the older brother. They wonder where Chaz gets (his size)."
Who can explain it? No one on either side of the Schmidt family, on Lynn's side or on her husband Andrew's side is all that big. At least not any bigger than about 6-foot-1. And no one has the girth of Charlie, who has been the biggest person in his family since seventh grade, when he was 6-foot-1.
"I don't know where he gets it, but I really did give birth to Charlie," said Lynn Schmidt (who is 5-foot-8 while her husband is 5-foot-10) with a big laugh. "Charlie has always been huge. I remember when Charlie got to high school, everyone would say to Henry, 'Oh my God, that's your brother?'
"Charlie is just so much bigger than his brothers."
Of course, Charlie is bigger than many high school kids, which is a big reason he's getting the opportunity to start varsity as a sophomore.