Philadelphia’s Mitchell Returns His Way Into the Record Books

Brian Mitchell never considered returning kicks until it became his only chance to play in the NFL.

Mitchell, a quarterback from middle school through college, scored a touchdown on the first kick he returned, and hasn’t stopped producing since.

Now the Philadelphia Eagles’ return specialist is on the verge of owning all the records.

“They drafted me as an athlete. (Redskins coach) Joe Gibbs told me, ‘The way you are going to make the team is by being a return guy,”’ said Mitchell, a 1990 fifth-round pick by Washington. “I knew my quarterback days were over when I threw my last pass in college. But I thought I can play running back in the NFL. They tried me at cornerback, at safety, but I told them I liked to touch the football.”

Mitchell took the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown in his first preseason game on Aug. 11, 1990. He continues to find the end zone 10 years later.

In his first season with the Eagles, Mitchell returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in consecutive weeks.

He’s tied with Eric Metcalf for first on the career list with 11 touchdowns on returns. He’s first in combined return yardage with 13,883, and with 443 kickoff returns.

Last week, Mitchell passed Dave Meggett for first on the punt-return yardage list with 3,717 yards. He has 10,166 yards on kick returns, and needs 85 more to pass Mel Gray for first.

On Sept. 10, he became the sixth player to gain 17,000 yards combined and now stands fifth with 17,949.

Only Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders and Herschel Walker have more, but Mitchell could move ahead of Sanders into third place before the season ends.

“When I started having success early, I was so thrilled I was doing it that I never thought about amassing all the numbers,” Mitchell said. “Guys call me old, but it’s definitely about longevity, being around a long time, and having guys in front of me doing their job.”

Mitchell has done his job throughout his career. As a quarterback at Southwestern Louisiana, he became the first NCAA player to pass for more than 5,000 yards and run for over 3,000 yards.

He turned down a guaranteed contract in the CFL for a shot at the NFL. Now he’s become one of the game’s premier players at his position.

And he’s even thrown some passes. Mitchell is 6-of-15 for 111 yards, including a 3-for-4, 40-yard performance in one series at quarterback against the Eagles in the infamous 1990 “Body Bag” game.

Philadelphia knocked out two Redskins quarterbacks during a Monday night game. The rookie led Washington into the end zone, capping the drive with a 1-yard sneak.

“When (Gibbs) came up to me and said, ‘You’re in.’ I said ‘What?’ The first thing I thought was my friends were watching me back home,” Mitchell said. “I looked across the line and saw Clyde Simmons, Jerome Brown, Reggie White. I was nervous. But it went well. It really was a dream come true.”

Mitchell has no idea how his career might have turned out if he didn’t take that first kick back for a score.

“I think the fact that I had success so early is the reason why I’m still doing it,” Mitchell said. “If I would’ve taken the first kick and got hit hard or got knocked out, I probably would’ve had the idea that it wasn’t for me. But having success made me feel this is easy, that I can do it.”

Simply doing it wasn’t enough for Mitchell. He wanted to join the elite.

“I always respected Mel Gray, Dave Meggett, Billy ‘White Shoes’ Johnson,” Mitchell said. “I decided I wanted to make this a premier position. You look at it now and people really go after guys who can return a kick, break a game open. After a while, we started to get paid accordingly.”

Mitchell figured he’d retire as a Redskin. But when owner Daniel Snyder signed Deion Sanders during his $100 million offseason shopping spree, Mitchell became expendable.

The Eagles quickly signed the stocky, 5-foot-10, 220-pounder after he was cut on June 1.

Mitchell didn’t appreciate the way the Redskins handled his release.

“Snyder always preached he was a big Redskins fan,” Mitchell said. “The 10 years I was there, I became a fan favorite. I don’t know what kind of fan he was to step in and make the move he made.

“I expected to be told that I wasn’t in their plans, and that I would be let go. I could’ve accepted that. But I had to ask to be let go, because he wanted to keep me around a couple more weeks. In a way, they didn’t want me to catch on with anyone else.”

Mitchell returned a kick 100 yards for a touchdown in his final game with Washington, a 14-13 playoff loss to Tampa Bay. This season has given him some vindication.

“They kept saying that I lost a step,” Mitchell said. “They aren’t saying that now.”