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Sam Schwartzstein
Stanford Cardinal
Born: (1989-07-07) July 7, 1989 (age 35)
Career information
Position(s)C, G, tackle
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight292 lb (132 kg)
CollegeStanford University
High schoolCarroll High School
Career highlights and awards

Sam Schwartzstein (born July 7, 1989) is a former American football player who played for Stanford University, former director of operations for the 2020 iteration of the XFL, and current Prime Video analytics expert on Thursday Night Football.

Schwartzstein played offensive line for the Stanford Cardinal and was a team captain. He was a candidate for the 2013 NFL draft in late April 2013, but went undrafted.

Early life and high school

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

He attended Carroll High School.[2][4] As a junior playing left tackle, he helped the Carroll Dragons to 16–0 record and the Texas Class 5A state title, and as a senior he helped the team to an 11–2 record.[2][4][5][6] He was Associated Press second team All-State and first team All-District as a senior in 2007.[2] He was ranked the 52nd best offensive guard nationally by Scout.com.[2] He was named All-Midwest Region for the Class of 2008 by 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 20-yard shuttle in 4.69, performing 24 reps in the bench press, and doing a 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

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College

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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.[12] After his first start, his head coach, David Shaw, said "I think Sammy Schwartzstein was outstanding, was off the charts. We expected him to play well, he surpassed our expectations".[12][13][14] He helped Andrew Luck lead the Pac-12 in passing efficiency and 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.[2][3][17][18][19] Coach Shaw said "His ability to decipher things at the line of scrimmage and make sure everybody's on the same page is phenomenal. He sees (defenses) as well as any center I've been around."[3] He was also a preseason candidate for the Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center.[20][2][21] Before the 2012 season, 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

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Some mock drafts had him being selected in the sixth or seventh round of the 2013 NFL draft, but many correctly predicted he would be an 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

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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

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  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.
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