Sam Schwartzstein

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sam Schwartzstein
Carroll High School
Honors
  • Preseason candidate for Rimington Trophy (2012)
  • Second-team All-Pac-12 (2012)
  • Al Masters Award (2012); Stanford's athletics plus leadership award

Sam Schwartzstein (born July 7, 1989) is a former

XFL, and current Prime Video analytics expert on Thursday Night Football
.

Schwartzstein played

2013 NFL Draft
in late April 2013, but went undrafted.

Early life and high school

Schwartzstein is Jewish,[1] and his hometown is Southlake, Texas.[2] His father formerly owned a tire dealership.[3]

He attended

PrepStar.[2]

Schwartzstein had at least eight scholarship offers upon graduating high school, including Stanford, Purdue, and Colorado State.[7] Scout.com's Texas analyst wrote that he:

uses position and leverage to make the plays on the field.... he is quick on the attack, and gets his hands inside the defender; he has enough pop in his hands and arms to not only control the defender but at times to knock him down... he gets the initial contact and the ability to control the situation. Second, he is aggressive in nature and will follow the defender downfield and look for a second block up field... He has good footwork... He is a highly developed tackle prospect... Overall, he is a very good offensive line prospect who plays smart, intelligent football.[7]

He worked out at the 2007 Dallas NIKE Combine in March 2007, executing the

vertical leap of 24.9".[8]

He also competed in

discus. At the Class 5A Region I Track and Field Championship in 2008, he came in 10th with a discus throw of 148–03.[9]

Playing career

College

Schwartzstein chose to attend Stanford, arriving as a guard.[10][11] In 2010, he played in his junior year at Stanford in six games as a reserve on the offensive line.[12]

In 2011, his senior year, he started all 13 games at center.

completion percentage while breaking school records for career (82) and single-season (37) touchdown passes.[2][4][15][16] Stanford also was tied for seventh nationally in fewest sacks allowed per game (0.85; 11 total). He helped running back Stepfan Taylor run for 1,330 yards, the second-highest single-season mark in school history.[2][3][16] He helped Stanford compile a single-game school record 446 yards rushing in a 65–21 rout of No. 22 Washington.[2]

In 2012, as a fifth-year senior considered a team motivator, he was elected a team captain by his teammates, and nicknamed "Coach Sammy" by them.

Walter Football called him a "sleeper center prospect who deserves more attention."[20] He was quoted in the New York Times as saying "I come from a high school where we ran the spread offense and it was just deep ball, deep ball, deep ball — that’s boring to me.... This is real football, grindstone. That’s how it’s supposed to be played.”[22]

In 2012, the Cardinal played 14 games and allowed only 20 sacks.[16] He was second-team All-Pac-12, and received Stanford's athletics plus leadership award, the Al Masters Award.[16][23][24][25]

NFL draft

Some mock drafts had him being selected in the sixth or seventh round of the

undrafted free agent.[20][26][27] His time in the 40-yard dash was 5.12 (with a low of 4.96), 7th-best among draft-eligible centers.[28][29][30]

Post playing career

Schwartzstein was a founder of the 2020 iteration of the

XFL and helped to write their rulebook from scratch.[31][32] As the XFL's director of operations, he also oversaw the league's compensation model for players and coaches, as well as on-field technology.[33][34]

Starting in the 2023 NFL season, Schwartzstein is the analytics expert for Next Gen Stats, one of Thursday Night Football's weekly alternate streams.[35][36]

References

  1. ^ "Jews in Bowl Games". Jewish Journal. December 13, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Sam Schwartzstein Profile". Gostanford.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Tom FitzGerald (November 14, 2012). "Stanford's Schwartzstein a quick study". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c "Senior Sit Down: Sam Schwartzstein talks about Big Game and his experience on the Farm". Stanford Daily. October 17, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  5. ^ Mark Soltau. "The Rock of the Line; Shwartzstein brings leadership, stability". Gostanford.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  6. ^ "Sam Schwartzstein's Carroll High School 2006 Football Profile". Maxpreps.com. December 23, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Sam Schwartzstein (OG)". scout.com. August 27, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  8. ^ "Sam Schwartzstein – 2007 Dallas NIKE Combine". Secure.rivals.com. March 10, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  9. ^ Ricky Moore (April 30, 2008). "Lowe leaves competition in his wake at Region I track meet". Southlake Times. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  10. ^ Rick Eymer (February 6, 2008). "Stanford football signs up a talented class". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  11. ^ Rick Eymer (October 7, 2011). "Stanford's football success starts with its offensive line". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c Andy Drukarev (September 7, 2011). "Scout.com: Week Two Notebook". Ucla.scout.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  13. ^ Jon Willner (September 6, 2011). "Stanford football notebook: Sam Schwartzstein makes promising debut as starting center". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  14. ^ David Kiefer (September 6, 2011). "Schwartzstein is center of attention". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  15. ^ Kabir Sawhney (November 27, 2011). "Postgame Interview: Sam Schwartzstein". scout.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  16. ^ a b c d Gemmell, Kevin (March 15, 2013). "Take 2: Filling shoes in the Pac-12". ESPN. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  17. ^ Chen, George (August 22, 2012). "Football preview: Powerful offensive line anchored by freshman talent and veteran leadership". Stanford Daily. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  18. ^ Gemmell, Kevin (September 8, 2011). "Meet the man in the middle". ESPN. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  19. ^ "ASAP Sports Transcripts – 2012 – Rose Bowl Game: STANFORD v WISCONSIN – December 28 – Sam Schwartzstein". Asapsports.com. December 28, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  20. ^ a b c Valentine, Ed (February 10, 2013). "2013 NFL Draft prospect interview: Sam Schwartzstein, C, Stanford". Big Blue View. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  21. ^ Chen, George (July 12, 2012). "Football: Four Cardinal players included on preseason watch lists for national awards". Stanford Daily. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  22. ^ Tim Rohan (January 1, 2013). "Stanford 20, Wisconsin 14; Stanford Wears Out Wisconsin on Ground". The New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  23. ^ Chen, George (November 27, 2012). "Football: Shaw named Pac-12 Coach of the Year, 24 players earn individual conference honors". Stanford Daily. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  24. ^ Gemmell, Kevin (March 4, 2013). "Pac-12 2012 awards announced". ESPN. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  25. ^ "Sam Schwartzstein Center/Guard Prospect 2013 NFL Draft". Samschwartzstein.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  26. ^ "Sam Schwartzstein". Nationalfootballpost.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  27. ^ "Reality predicts every pick of the NFL Draft (yes, all seven rounds!) - phillyburbs.com: Reality". www.phillyburbs.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2013.
  28. ^ "Sam Schwartzstein 2013 NFL Draft Prospect Profile, Stanford Cardinal". Draftnikcentral.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  29. ^ "2013 NFL Draft Prospects". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  30. ^ "Sam Schwartzstein | Stanford, C: 2013 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". Nfldraftscout.com. September 21, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  31. ^ Davis, Josh (September 18, 2020). "Former XFL Director Of Operations Says 6 Weeks To Prep Players For 2021". xflnewshub.com. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  32. ^ "Thursday Night Football's Sam Schwartzstein Thinks Fans Can Handle the Truth". The Big Lead. September 13, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  33. ^ "Is this it for the XFL? Here's what we know and don't know about its future". ESPN.com. April 10, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  34. ^ "'Thursday Night Football' will use AI to help viewers better understand the action on the field". AP News. September 13, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  35. ^ Hayes, Dade (September 14, 2023). "Amazon Prime Video Execs Prep Data-Rich Update Of 'Thursday Night Football', Share Plans For Improving On Weekly Live Streams That "Hadn't Been Done Before"". Deadline. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  36. ^ Pierce, David (August 24, 2023). "Amazon is bringing a whole lot of AI to Thursday Night Football this season". The Verge. Retrieved September 29, 2023.