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| No. 83, 86, 82, 85 | |||||||||
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| Position | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1971-01-20)January 20, 1971 (age 54) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 247 lb (112 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Simeon (Chicago, Illinois) | ||||||||
| College | Nebraska | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1992: 1st round, 15th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Johnny Mitchell Jr. (born January 20, 1971) is an American former professionalfootball player who was atight end in theNational Football League (NFL) for theNew York Jets,Dallas Cowboys andNew Orleans Saints. He playedcollege football for theNebraska Cornhuskers.
Mitchell was raised by his grandparents on a 150-acre farm inTchula, Mississippi, avoiding the difficult neighborhood in Chicago where his parents lived. He returned to Chicago at age 16 to pursue his education and sports.
Mitchell graduated fromSimeon Career Academy (then known as Simeon Vocational High School) in 1989, where he played multiple positions, includingquarterback anddefensive end.
As a sophomore, he was a member of the state championship team. As a senior, he helped his team reach the city finals and received all-state honors.
Although he had initially agreed to attended theUniversity of Miami, afterhead coachJimmy Johnson left to coach theDallas Cowboys of theNFL, Mitchell accepted a football scholarship from theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln.[1]
Mitchell became the first freshman from Nebraska to make the All-Big Eight first team since 1946. He was second on the team in receiving while setting a school record with 25.6 average yards per reception and tying the school record for touchdown receptions by a tight end in a season (seven). He also set a school bowl record when he recorded five receptions for 138 yards and one touchdown againstGeorgia Tech in the1991 Florida Citrus Bowl.
In 1991, Mitchell set school records for tight ends when he recorded a team-leading 31 receptions for 534 yards and five touchdowns. He also set two school single-game records for receptions and yards by atight end in the season finale against theUniversity of Oklahoma when he had seven catches for 137 yards.
Mitchell declared himself eligible for theNFL draft after his sophomore season in order to help ease the financial burdens of his family. He became the first Nebraska player to leave school for the NFL before his eligibility had expired.[2] He finished his college career with 42 receptions for 816 yards, a 19.4-yard average and 12 touchdowns.
Mitchell was selected by theNew York Jets in the first round (15th overall) of the1992 NFL draft after improving his draft stock through his athletic performance at theNFL Scouting Combine, even though he was seen as a raw player.[3] As a rookie, he had difficulty adapting to the professional game and registered only 16 receptions for 210 yards and one touchdown. He suffered a shoulder injury and was placed on theinjured reserve list from games 2 through 6.
In 1993, Mitchell was among the league's leaders fortight ends with 39 receptions (fourth on the team) for 630 yards (third on the team) and sixtouchdowns. He had seven receptions for 146 yards and three touchdowns against thePhiladelphia Eagles. He was declared inactive in two games because of a knee injury.
In 1994, Mitchell's best season came underhead coachPete Carroll when he was second on the team with 58 receptions for 749 yards and fourtouchdowns. He had 11 receptions for 120 yards against theMinnesota Vikings. He recorded five receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns against theMiami Dolphins.
In 1995 with new head coachRich Kotite, the Jets selected tight endKyle Brady with the team's first selection in the1995 NFL draft. Mitchell's reception count dropped to 45 (third on the team) for 497 yards (second on the team) and fivetouchdowns after missing four games with a back injury.[4] He registered nine receptions for 108 yards and one touchdown against theNew England Patriots.
The Jets designated him as the team's franchise player before the 1996 season and tried to trade him, but released him on April 23.[5]
On July 17, 1996, Mitchell signed as afree agent with theMiami Dolphins, but he departedtraining camp after 12 days and announced his retirement at the age of 25 on July 29.[6]
On November 21, 1996, theDallas Cowboys convinced Mitchell to leave retirement and signed him for depth purposes after dealing with injuries totight endsJay Novacek andEric Bjornson.[7] Mitchell played in four games (one start), registering one reception for 17 yards. He was not signed after the season.
In 1999, Mitchell askedhead coachBill Parcells for an opportunity to restart his career. He was signed to afree-agent contract on January 19 but lasted only one day intraining camp, leaving in the middle of the night without telling anyone his intentions.[8] He announced his retirement on July 31.
On June 4, 2001, Mitchell signed with theNew Orleans Saints after four years away from the game. On September 2, he was released after being passed on the depth chart by rookieBoo Williams. On December 26, he was signed again afterCam Cleeland was placed on theinjured reserve list with anAchilles injury. He did not play in the final two games of the season and was released on August 20, 2002.
On April 14, 2003, Mitchell was signed as afree agent by theJacksonville Jaguars, who were enduring a contract holdout by tight end Kyle Brady.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1992 | NYJ | 11 | 3 | 16 | 210 | 13.1 | 37 | 1 |
| 1993 | NYJ | 14 | 14 | 39 | 630 | 16.2 | 65 | 6 |
| 1994 | NYJ | 16 | 14 | 58 | 749 | 12.9 | 55 | 4 |
| 1995 | NYJ | 12 | 11 | 45 | 497 | 11.0 | 43 | 5 |
| 1996 | DAL | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Career | 57 | 43 | 159 | 2,103 | 13.2 | 65 | 16 | |
Mitchell was a studio analyst for British television channelSky Sports on its live NFL coverage, as well as for ESPN Brasil. He also served as the head coach for theCoritiba Crocodiles,[9] and in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, he led the Crocodiles to the Brazilian national football championship. He also taughttee-ball to kindergarten and prekindergarten kids from theInternational School of Curitiba.
He now works part-time atScarisbrick Hall School in England, teaching students the American sports of football andbaseball.