Taking Out Trash

The UCLA flanker whose acrobatic moves draw raves now stretches the limits of his impressive balance even more, maneuvering the tightrope in the greatest balancing act of them all.

His attitude versus his aptitude.

Freddie Mitchell walks the fine line with commendable results, not to mention a little luck.

Take the other day, when Coach Bob Toledo missed him catching a pass in practice and crossing the goal line backward while holding the ball out to tease the defensive backs. Had Toledo seen it, the next thing Mitchell might have caught was a plane back to Florida.

That it came during the first week of Bruin workouts when Mitchell has dropped much of his swagger constitutes either a brief slip or a reminder of what once was--of the Mitchell who in practice last season would spin the ball like a top in the end zone or spike it after a touchdown, of the Mitchell who, as a redshirt freshman, trash talked the members of the secondary.

“He would even trash talk Shaun Williams,” cornerback Damian Allen recalls.

Williams was merely an all-conference safety, an All-American by many, and a few months away from being an NFL first-round draft choice.

The word then came down from above. Toledo told Mitchell that his future contributions would rest largely on an ability to gain some discipline, there never having been much doubt about the rest of the package. The player, Toledo would later say, had “absolutely” hurt his standing with his speaking.

Mitchell came to agree. So while spending part of his summer in Los Angeles to play on UCLA’s passing league team, he also worked on his attitude. Less than a week into fall practices, the strides had become apparent. Everyone could hear the silence.

“He keeps his mouth shut now, because he knows that he won’t see the field if he doesn’t,” Toledo said. “He’s a lot better.”

Said Allen, who has gone against Mitchell in drills: “Most definitely he’s toned down.”

But. . . .

“But it’s going to come back in the game,” Allen said. “I know it is.”

Not if Mitchell can help it.

“I came out here kind of cocky and doing a lot of stuff I shouldn’t have been doing,” he said. “Coach Toledo told me, ‘You’re going to have to make a change.’ I came back out on the right foot and really learned to be quiet and just play the game of football. It’s like it’s timeout for all that showboating and stuff. If you play the game of football, it’ll speak for you basically.

“Now that I look back on it, he is really right. You should be under control. I was kind of like Michael Irvin a little bit. It’s helped me become better as a player. I’m more under control.

“That’s really me. And I really show my emotion off the field with the players, instead of catching a ball on a DB and getting in his face and ‘Blah, blah, blah.’ I’ll come back to my team and go on.

“I love the intensity, and that’s what makes me play better. It was hard at first. But it hurts them [defensive backs] when you don’t say anything. I figured that out. It hurts them when you just go back to the huddle like, ‘I’ve done this before.’ It’s really good. And Toledo, he’s a real nice person. What he says goes. That’s what he wanted to have on his team, and I have to do that.”

What emerges from the transition is a player who is scheduled to play more and talk less.

He’s currently the backup flanker, behind Danny Farmer.

“Things should happen,” Mitchell said. “Things should happen.”

Big plays.

“Big plays. Hopefully. It should happen.”

He’ll handle a lot of punt and kickoff returns.

“There’s no second or third or fourth read. I’m getting the ball.”

He’ll just maybe retain a little bit of his confidence.

“I let him show his energy,” Toledo said. “I’m not going to put up with him doing a lot of talking and being demonstrative. He’s not going to do that.”

Or else. So goes the balancing, an act in progress.