Joe Schobert Talks Mancaves, Collecting, and Teaching TJ Watt "Everything He Knows"

Joe Schobert grew up in Waukesha, Wisconsin, a short jaunt from Milwaukee, but the multi-sport high school star athlete's football allegiances were two hours north with the iconic Green Bay Packers.

As a youngster, his sports card collection was full of Packers stars from the nineties and early 2000s, but he was tempted by some in-conference rivals and even collected cards of a legendary running back from out west.

"I grew up a huge Green Bay Packers fan, and obviously Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers were the quarterbacks that I got to watch growing up, so I was spoiled with success. And then a little bit sacrilegiously, as a Green Bay Packers fan, I loved Randy Moss from the Vikings. And then LaDanian Tomlinson was another guy who I think, LT was probably my favorite football player overall growing up, so he was a guy I definitely had a card of, or multiple cards." Schobert shares.

When asked the million-dollar question of what happened to that childhood card collection, Schobert shares a relatable answer.

"Yeah, it's in a box in my basement, and I have a lot of cards, a lot of, like I said, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and sports cards all in the basement."

Schobert's dream was always to play for the Wisconsin Badgers, and after an outstanding performance at a high school All-Star game, he caught the attention of the right people. He earned a preferred walk-on spot from Badgers head coach Brett Bielema. Shobert's first trading cards appeared while he suited up in the red and white for Wisconsin in 2014, with a second college card coming in 2015.

When asked if he remembered seeing himself on cardboard for the first time, that memory wasn't very clear but he thinks it would be different if he played college ball in this day and age.

"I do not remember that. If it were NIL times, I'd probably have a lot more."

The outside linebacker went from a walk-on to the Jack Lambert Trophy winner and First Team All-American in 2015.

Sep 5, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Joe Schobert (58) in game action against the Alabama Crimson Tide at | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

What He Remembers About Signing His First Cards

Still unheralded, he was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. The Browns rookie's cards started appearing in some lower end draft sets such as 2016 Leaf Draft, Sage Hit, and eventually the fully licensed Panini Rookies & Stars. Shobert fondly remembers seeing himself on trading cards for the first time and that all-important initiation of signing his first rookie cards and sticker sheets.

"Yeah, I remember doing the Panini signings, like signing a couple thousand signatures that would go on the rookie cards. I just think it was kind of surreal because growing up, I had collected cards from Pokémon cards to sports cards, and obviously, rookie cards of all the good players were always the most valuable." Schobert reminisces. "I remember signing my own rookie card, kind of thinking about that, and thinking it was quite surreal to be in that position."

The well-traveled linebacker has had nearly 300 cards produced over the course of his nearly decade-long NFL career. When asked about what cards are most memorable, he's more surprised by the sheer number of his cards than any one in particular.

"I think I've been sent quite a few. I don't think I've been sent 298 of them, so maybe there are a couple out there. There's a Jacksonville one that was kind of like holographic that I have somewhere in my basement. It's one of my favorites."

By his second season in the league, his draft position proved its worth as he was honored with a Pro Bowl nod.

Building Out a Mancave

Schobert played four seasons in Cleveland before moving to Jacksonville for the 2020 season. He promptly moved again to Pittsburgh, playing with the Steelers in 2021, and retired after a single season in Tennessee in 2022.

With a decorated college career and a long run in the NFL, one would imagine Joe has quite a trophy room. When asked about his man cave, he seems to have a little company at the moment.

"Downstairs at my house, we have a little bar area where I have a bunch of my memorabilia displayed." he shares. "We do have an office on our main floor, but it's a nursery, and it has been a nursery for the last six years. So once the youngest kids move out of there, it'll turn into an office, and I think all my memorabilia will move up there. For now, it's down by the bar. Yeah, it's got cribs and changing tables and toys and all this stuff in it right now."

During his playing days, he volunteered at Children's Hospitals, making numerous visits to patients at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland and other local children's hospitals. When asked about his most memorable fan interactions, he's quick to bring up some cherished memories from these hospital visits.

"In Cleveland, we used to do a lot of meet and greets," Schobert states. "We'd go to the Children's Hospital every Friday, and me and my wife did that for about four years, and meeting those kids was probably some of my favorite fan interactions. Also, at University of Wisconsin, we used to do Children's Hospital visits, and just being able to go to the Children's Hospital and meet kids who are diehard fans who are obviously going through something that nobody wants to see kids go through, but to see them perk up and to feel like normal kids for a little bit or feel special for a little bit, I think was probably one of my favorite fan interactions."

"I remember in Cleveland, I got in an argument with a kid about Nick Chubb. I kept trying to convince everybody that Nick wasn't a great guy, that it was just a running joke, at the Children's Hospital, because everybody knew he was a fantastic person." Joe jokes. "I was doing a little bit of rumor starting against Nick Chubb, and this one kid called me out on it, and that was a fun interaction back and forth."

Teaching TJ Watt "Everything He Knows"

From 2012 through 2015, Schobert fulfilled that impossible dream of suiting up for the Wisconsin Badgers. Not only did he wear the uniform, but he also went on to be one of the nation's top defensive players, winning multiple national awards in the process. A piece of advice he gave to a struggling up-and-coming tight end altered the course of NFL history.

"It's pretty incredible, because at Wisconsin, I remember when he (TJ Watt) was a scout team tight end and he had a bunch of knee injuries that he was thinking about medically hanging up his cleats and retiring from the sport." Shobert shares. I remember talking to him at the dinner table and just being like, 'Hey man, you should switch to outside linebacker', which is what I was playing at the time, 'because all your tight end injuries happen when you've been blocking, going backwards, getting rolled up on. I you're an outside linebacker, you're just going to be going forward. And then the coaching staff switched him to outside linebacker a year later, and I remember teaching him bag drills and hand-fighting stuff. I like to tell everybody, TJ Watt was my backup in college. I taught him everything he knows, but I think that's taking a lot more credit than I'd deserve. He deserves a lot more than what I gave him, and he worked his butt off, and obviously he's made it to the pinnacle of the sport."

When asked what information he would choose to put on the back of one of his trading cards for the world to see he simply stated he'd like to see 'former walk-on to NFL Pro Bowler' which truly encapsulates his journey through ultimate self-belief, intense dedication, fighting through untold adversity and thriving when given the opportunity in the biggest moments to reach the mountaintop of the sport.

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