Schmidt may be one play from receiving mark

Lwt. Football co-captain Clint Schmidt is just 17Lwt. Football co-captain Clint Schmidt is just 17yards shy of tying the Penn career receiving record Intense. Competitive. Determined. Durable. Reliable. Every team needs players with these characteristics. The Penn lightweight football team is fortunate to have one player who has all of them. He is co-captain Clint Schmidt, a senior wide receiver. Just 17 yards shy of breaking the Penn lightweight record for career receiving yards, Schmidt is expected to topple the mark tomorrow against Princeton -- a game, which he says can make or break the Quakers' season "If we went 2-4 for the season, but our two wins were lopsided victories against Princeton, it would be a good season," Schmidt said. "I'm going to go out of my way to get everyone as excited about [Friday's] game as I am." Schmidt has been a fierce competitor ever since his days of Pop Warner football and two-on-two games with his father and brothers. "Even in a backyard football game, he's in it to win," said Craig Schmidt, Clint's father. Schmidt, the oldest of five competitive brothers, grew up in the football-rich state of Nebraska. His high school, Creighton Prep, was nationally-ranked. But as a 98-pound flyweight, Schmidt was too small to play after eighth grade. Instead, he coached little league football and continued the hard-fought family pick-up games, in which his father served as the all-time quarterback, while one pair of brothers played another pair of brothers. "One thing that's contributed so much to my ability is the cutthroat competition from my brothers," Schmidt said. Schmidt acknowledges the contributions of his immediate family, of which every member shares the initials "C. S.", by inscribing those letters under his elbow pads before each game. However, when Schmidt came to Penn, his family thought they would be watching him compete on the wrestling mat, not the football field. "It was a shock," Craig Schmidt said. "But his determination was going to make him a part of the team regardless [of his size]." As a freshman, Schmidt's determination paid off as he was named the Penn lightweight rookie of the year. He has improved every year since, and his leadership role has increased. "I'm abrasive. I yell at guys," Schmidt said. Quakers coach Bill Wagner doesn't rebuke Schmidt's style because "Schmidty," as he's known to teammates, usually backs up his talk with his actions. "He's a warrior," Craig Schmidt said. "That intensity spreads to the team? and it makes you think, 'Maybe I need to get my ass in gear'," Penn senior quarterback Matt Veneri said. Veneri, as quarterback, comes face-to-face with Schmidt more times than anyone because Schmidt is so demanding as a receiver. Schmidt talks excitedly about the rush he gets when the ball is in the air and he knows he can make a big play. "Schmidty always wants the ball," Veneri said. "And he wants every play to go for a score." Tomorrow, Schmidt will be looking to turn his first catch of the game into history. Schmidt admits that he's embarrassed that the career receiving record, 555 yards, is so low, and he wanted to break it as a junior. "It is something that motivates me, but I don't think about it that much," Schmidt said. Schmidt even expects that someone will come along one day to break the record he establishes. Schmidt thinks he might have been able to break the record last year as a junior if he had not been hampered by a bad back. The injury prevented him from practicing, but he managed to play every game despite tremendous pain. His junior year remains one of his greatest disappointments because he thinks it could have been his "break-out year" were it not for the injury. Now that he is healthy, Schmidt is again looking for the ball on every down. "I'm pretty adamant about asking for the ball," Schmidt said. "I want the ball in every critical situation." The confidence that Schmidt shows is mirrored by his teammates' and coaches' faith in his receiving ability. "If we can throw the ball, he'll catch it," Wagner said. "He's got great hands and great moves -- good enough to play at the next level." Schmidt's lightweight accomplishments have earned him all-Eastern Lightweight Football League honors three times. With the record in sight, it would seem as though Schmidt has attained all his goals. But there is one still remaining. "One of his goals is to beat me in a game of basketball," Schmidt's dad revealed. "He can't seem to get that done." But Schmidt will have to wait for the offseason to go after that feat --Epresumably the first goal will already have been reached. "If you look at the last four years, he's probably been the most consistent part of the offense," Penn senior tight end Zach Chan said. "He deserves [the record], and he'll probably go pretty far beyond it." How far beyond the record Schmidt will go is uncertain, but it will be dictated by his characteristic style of play -- intense, competitive, determined, durable and reliable.