J. Roger Schmiedel
(Football, 1951)
The 1950 football
season was, arguably, the finest season for the Hatter Gridders in
school history. They concluded their season undefeated and a number one
ranking in the New Haven Register poll. The 1950 season took place in
the midst of a 23 game unbeaten streak for the Crotty 11. While defense
was the forte of those teams the offensive fire power was provided by
the electrifying running back and our next Hall of Fame inductee, Roger
Schmiedel. Roger’s exploits were of the explosive variety as he was
known for his long touchdown runs. Six of his eight touchdowns in the
1950 season were for over 50 yards. For his career Roger finished with
1304 yards rushing, which was a school record at that time. The 1950
season saw him rush for 980 yards for the season, which was also a
single season school record at the time. That 980 yards places him,
today, as thirteenth best for a single season in DHS history. Roger also
led the 1950 team with eight touchdowns. As a student Roger was class
president for all four years and was a Boys’ State representative in
1950. As was the case with many DHS grads, Roger went to Mount Saint
Mary’s College in Maryland and received his degree in education. Roger
started his professional career teaching in Baltimore, Maryland and then
came home to Danbury where he was a teacher and administrator at
Danbury High School until his retirement in 1991.