BIOGRAPHY
Joe Schobert was born on November 6, 1993, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He is a linebacker in the NFL.
Schobert was raised in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He mainly played tailback and safety in high school football but also played wide receiver in addition to returning punts and kicks. As a junior, he was a part of the Waukesha West team that won the WIAA Division 1 state title. During the championship game, he set the rushing record with 296 yards on 38 carries. In his senior season, he rushed for 1,452 yards with 23 touchdowns.
Schobert attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a member of the Big Ten Conference, where he played outside linebacker for the Wisconsin Badgers football team from 2012 through 2015. In 2015, he won the Jack Lambert Trophy as the nations best linebacker. He was also named to the first-team All-America Team by FWAA and ESPN. He also earned second-team All-America honors by the AP, Walter Camp, USA Today, CBS Sports, Sporting News, and Athlon Sports.
The Cleveland Browns selected Schobert in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. He competed with Paul Kruger, Barkevious Mingo, Nate Orchard, and Emmanuel Ogbah for the starting outside linebacker job. The Cleveland Browns released veteran Paul Kruger and traded Barkevious Mingo to the New England Patriots after Schobert showed promise throughout training camp and named the backup right outside linebacker behind Emmanuel Ogbah. He finished his rookie season with 28 combined tackles (19 solo), a half a sack, and a pass deflection in four starts and 16 games.
In 2017, Schobert competed with Tank Carder for the starting middle linebacker position after defensive coordinator Ray Horton was fired and new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams replaced his 3-4 base with a 4-3. He started all 16 games at middle linebacker, finishing tied for first in the NFL with 144 tackles with Bills' linebacker Preston Brown and Packers' linebacker Blake Martinez. On January 16, 2018, he was named to his first Pro Bowl as a replacement for the injured Ryan Shazier.
In 2020, he signed a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.