Voices of reason are always appreciated around here. And all the more so in a time of chaos. So it made for a reassuring and refreshing diversion to listen Friday to stalwart Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz on a video call with reporters.
As we’ve come to expect from the ever-cerebral Schwartz, he spoke with calm and thought-provoking candor about a variety of topics.
From what the offense can and can’t virtually work through amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic … to his continued growth as what might be called a (Grid-)Iron Chef … to his designation by Pro Football Focus as the most underrated Chief.
“The fact that Schwartz allowed just one pressure (a hurry, at that) in 134 pass-blocking snaps during the Chiefs’ postseason run is hard to overstate,” PFF wrote. “That’s impressive, impressive stuff.”
Never mind that in Kansas City we already think of him as the best player in the game at his position.
Besides, Schwartz noted with a laugh, there’s a “limit on how many underrated lists (one can be on) before the narrative flips pretty quick” to oversaturation … and abruptly being considered overrated.
Even so, he acknowledged enjoying the enhanced attention he’s earned the last few years because of his sheer excellence, remarkable ability to stay on the field (7,894 NFL snaps in a row before missing his first play at Tennessee last November) and the fascinating broader range he demonstrates as … “Mitch In The Kitch.”
“It’s definitely good to be highlighted and showcased,” he said.
Then he added an interesting footnote about the meaning of what players are paid (in his case, he’s in year two of a three-year, $24,455,000 contract) that extends beyond the money itself.
Because what they’re paid also speaks to how they’re valued relative to their peers at the position.
That’s a “huge part” of the “psyche of contracts that I think maybe the outside world doesn’t understand quite as much,” he added. “Because there’s nothing (better) to figure out how the league views you (and) how your team views you.”
Money is also at the crux of why Schwartz believes the NFL ultimately will find a way to make this season happen, even with the specter of the virus ever-present and uncertainty about how and when it can be quelled still swirling.
Asked about NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith’s recent comment to HBO “Real Sports” suggesting the likelihood of the season being played was a six or seven on a scale of one to 10, Schwartz called the notion “realistic” — neither totally optimistic nor doom and gloom.
But this is pretty realistic, too: “My inclination from the get-go was that they’re going to find a way to (make it) happen (because) there’s so much money involved from all sides,” Schwartz said.
Noting the wide interest in free agency and the NFL Draft despite the bad optics of the timing as the virus seized the world, he added that the popularity of those two circumstances “kind of strengthened my view that there’s just a lot at stake, mostly money. That’s just the reality of it.”
