John Michael Schmitz Gives Back to Youth Program That Helped Shape His NFL Dreams

New York Giants center John Michael Schmitz's NFL career began with a dream as a high school youth in Homewood-Flossmoor, Illinois, where he joined the Homewood-Flossmoor United Football and Cheer to gain experience in the sport and about sportsmanship.

As Schmitz matured, he became a standout offensive lineman at the University of Minnesota, where, in last year's draft, the Giants selected him in the second round.

While Schmitz has moved up to the big leagues, he hasn't forgotten where he got his start, having recently appeared in the very same youth program that provided the foundation of his dreams to realize its goals.

“I’m very grateful and thankful to be a part of this,” Schmitz told the Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle. “What a great opportunity to give back to somewhere where my football career began. There’s no other program I would want this to go to and that it would be as beneficial for.

“Whenever I come back here, H-F is always welcoming. There are a lot of familiar faces here that are welcoming to me. I’m just glad to be here and celebrate this award for them.”

During his appearance, Schmitz spoke of the benefits of youth football on and off the field. He believes football contains life lessons that can help players in their everyday lives.

“(Youth football teaches) not only the skill part, but honestly off the field, your habits and getting your hard work in, your leadership skills, your communication skills, all of that goes into becoming a good football player,” he said.

Schmitz says the advice he gives to the kids growing up in the same community and playing in the same youth football program as him is to trust the process.

“A lot of them want to know what it takes to get where I’m at,” he said. “What I tell them is to just keep trusting the process. You’re going to fail; just use that failure as growing. You can’t get frustrated with the process, and you’re not going to like it sometimes. Just keep going and, at the end of the day, just never back down from it.”