Of all the pieces of memorabilia Joe Schmidt has from his playing days with the Detroit Lions, one picture stands above the rest.
Sometime in the 1950s, Schmidt, the Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker, attended a sports banquet in Detroit with Tigers outfielder Al Kaline and Red Wings forward Gordie Howe.
The three posed for a picture, with Schmidt in front, Howe in the middle and Kaline in back. Schmidt tracked down a copy of the photo after it ran in the local paper, had his Detroit sports contemporaries autograph it, and for the past 60 or so years, it's hung in a frame somewhere in his house.