Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 27 -- Mitchell Schwartz, Rock at Right Tackle

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

27. MITCHELL SCHWARTZ

Years at Cal: 2007 to 2011

Sport: Football

Pro teams: Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs

Age: 36 

Hometown: Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Why we ranked him here: Chosen with the 37th overall pick in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, Schwartz started all 64 games and played every snap at offensive right tackle his first four seasons with the team. His brother, Geoff, played offensive guard for four NFL teams and they became the first Jewish brothers to play in the NFL since the 1920s. In the spring of 2016, the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs for $33 million, making him one of the highest-paid right tackles in the NFL. In his first season at KC, Schwartz again started every game and played every snap. Those streaks continued until November 2019 when — in his 122nd consecutive start— a knee injury forced him off the field for three plays. He had played 7,894 consecutive snaps before that. He was named second-team AP All-Pro in both 2016 and ’17 and was a first-team pick in 2018. In 2019, he again was a second-team pick and that season he also was named to CBS Sports’ NFL All-Decade team. Schwartz and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl after the 2019 season, beating the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. In 2020, Schwartz suffered a back injury in practice during Week 6, although he still played that week. The injury finally kept him out of the Week 7 game vs. the Broncos and he was placed on injured reserve, sidelining him for the rest of the season. He had back surgery in February 2021 and was released by the Chiefs in March. He did not play in 2021 and in 2022 announced his retirement.