UL Athlete (1986-89) Brian Mitchell

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The first time Brian Mitchell handled the football as a Washington Redskin, he returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. Nine seasons later in his final game as a Redskin, Mitchell also took a kickoff to the house.

Mitchell left the Redskins in 2000 after an acrimonious dispute with owner Dan Snyder and the front office, but he never really left Washington. Although he played the next four seasons for Philadelphia and the New York Giants before closing his career as the most productive kick returner in NFL history, Mitchell's family remained in Northern Virginia.

With his first coach, Joe Gibbs, back again and with his relationship with club management repaired, Mitchell will re-sign with Washington on Wednesday in order to officially retire as a Redskin at 36.

Mitchell had hoped to play in 2004 after being released by the Giants but went unsigned. Still, the one-time option quarterback at Southwestern Louisiana accumulated 23,330 combined yards, second only to the 23,546 of all-time leading receiver Jerry Rice.

Mitchell led the league in combined yards from 1994 to 1996, joining immortal running backs Jim Brown and Gale Sayers as the only players to do so three straight seasons.

Mitchell holds NFL records for combined kick return yards (19,013), combined kick returns (1,070), combined kick return touchdowns (13), kickoff return yards (14,014), kickoff returns (607), punt return yards (4,999), punt returns (463), and fair catches (231).

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By David Elfin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

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ASHBURN, Va. - Brian Mitchell, one of the NFL's top return men and holder of nine league records, will sign a one-day contract next week so that he can retire with the Washington Redskins.
Mitchell will reunite with coach Joe Gibbs for the ceremony Wednesday at Redskins Park. Mitchell was on the team Gibbs coached to the Super Bowl title after the 1991 season.

Mitchell, 37, was a fifth-round pick in 1990 and spent 10 seasons with the Redskins. He was released in 2000, then played for three seasons with Philadelphia and one with the New York Giants. He was cut by the Giants a year ago and did not play in 2004.

"I started here. I played 10 years here. My home is here. I never wanted to leave Washington. I wanted to retire as a Redskin way back," Mitchell told WTEM-AM radio.

Mitchell holds NFL records for combined kick return yards (19,013), combined kick returns (1,070), combined kick returns for a touchdown (13), kickoff return yards (14,014), kickoff returns (607), punt return yards (4,999) and punt returns (463).

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Mitchell hanging up cleats

Brian Mitchell was arguably the best player in the football history of Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns.

He moved on to the National Football League and became the most prolific kick returner in pro football history in stops with the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.

Next Wednesday, Mitchell will sign a one-day contract with the Redskins and retire after 14 seasons in the league.

Mitchell was last active with the Giants in 2003, was then released and was inactive last season.

In retirement, Mitchell will reunite with coach Joe Gibbs for the ceremony at Redskins Park. Mitchell was on the team Gibbs coached to the Super Bowl title after the 1991 season.

The 37-year-old Mitchell was a fifth-round pick in 1990 and spent 10 seasons with the Redskins. He was released in 2000, then played for three seasons with Philadelphia and one with the Giants. He was cut by the Giants a year ago and did not play in 2004.

Mitchell said he has put behind him the animosity he's had toward Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who cut Mitchell five years ago to make room for an aging Deion Sanders.

"I started here. I played 10 years here. My home is here. I never wanted to leave Washington. I wanted to retire as a Redskin way back," Mitchell told WTEM-AM radio.

"Things changed. I left upset and with an attitude, but you get over things, and I made a phone call to Dan Snyder and expressed what I wanted to do, and he agreed with it."

Mitchell holds NFL records for combined kick return yards (19,013), combined kick returns (1,070), combined kick returns for a touchdown (13), kickoff return yards (14,014), kickoff returns (607), punt return yards (4,999), punt returns (463) and fair catches (231).

He was also the leader in all-purpose yards (23,330) until Jerry Rice (23,546) passed him in December.

Mitchell's re-signing and retirement is similar to the recent retirement announcement of NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith, who played with Dallas from 1990-2002 before being cut loose for salary cap reasons and spending the last two seaons with the Arizona Cardinals.

Smith signed a one-day deal with Dallas to retire with the team that drafted him.

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Despite an acrimonious departure from the team in 1999, Brian Mitchell will retire as a Washington Redskin. From the DC Post:

The Washington Redskins announced yesterday that former running back Brian Mitchell will officially retire as a member of the team on Wednesday, bringing closure to what was a damaged relationship between the popular player and the franchise. Mitchell, a standout return specialist who spent 10 seasons in Washington, will sign with the Redskins on Wednesday and then announce his retirement at a news conference at Redskins Park

Mitchell was cut from the Redskins following the 1999 season in what was the signature move of the early Dan Snyder years. He was axed to create salary cap room for the signing of Deion Sanders .

At the time, Mitchell had some bad words for Snyder and the Redskins, but he's put it all behind him. He told WTEM radio:

I started here. I played 10 years here. My home is here. I never wanted to leave Washington. I wanted to retire as a Redskin way back. Things changed. I left upset and with an attitude, but you get over things, and I made a phone call to Dan Snyder and expressed what I wanted to do, and he agreed with it.

He has compiled some pretty impressive career stats. From the AP
Mitchell holds NFL records for combined kick return yards (19,013), combined kick returns (1,070), combined kick returns for a touchdown (13), kickoff return yards (14,014), kickoff returns (607), punt return yards (4,999), punt returns (463) and fair catches (231). He was also the leader in all-purpose yards (23,330) until Jerry Rice (23,546) passed him in December.

Compiled numbers are one thing, snapshots in the memory are another. Two of them stand out. One was in 1991, his first game as the full-time punt returner. In the season opener, he returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown and he made it look easy, getting a forward burst of speed after fielding the kick, making a cut and that was it. Then, in his last game as a Redskin, getting the second-half kickoff down the right sideline for a touchdown that gave his team a 13-0 lead against the Bucs. They would relinquish that lead and lose 14-13.

The big returns, however, are not his enduring legacy. Mitchell achieved his record numbers not by breaking a bunch of long returns, but by getting a 15-yard punt return when the blocking would have netted the average returner nine, by ploughing into the pile on a kickoff return to get an extra four yards of field position for the Redskins. Multiply that by his 1,070 combined kick returns and you have a lot of extra yards.

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Brian Mitchell is going to retire from the NFL this week.

That means in five years he'll be eligible for election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Memo to voters: Let him in.

Mitchell, the former Louisiana Ragin' Cajun who led UL to four straight winning seasons from 1986-89, deserves to make history as the first NFL player to ever be enshrined in Canton by virtue of his special teams play.

We're not talking about kickers here. We're talking about players who get hit on every play, and on special teams that means often getting slammed at high speeds.

Mitchell did that for 14 years in the NFL and never sustained a serious injury.

He did it for four different teams, earning a Super Bowl ring in the second of his 10 years with the Washington Redskins before moving on to tours of duty with the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.

The Plaquemine product spent last season waiting for a phone call from a team that needed a special teams spark, and when that call never came Mitchell decided he'd done enough.

Make that much more than enough.

In his 14 years, Mitchell set career records for kick return yards (19,013), combined kick returns (1,070), combined kick return touchdowns (13), kickoff return yards (14,014) and returns (607), punt return yards (4,999) and returns (463) and fair catches (231).

Throw in rushing and receiving and Mitchell piled up 23,330 all-purpose yards as a smallish, durable, elusive and tough performer.

He even found time to play some emergency quarterback and to try a halfback option or two.

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Brian Mitchell was the best football player to ever put on a Cajun uniform. The production and wins while he was at UL made this one of the most exciting times in our football history.

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Mitchell officially retires with Washington

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) - In 14 NFL seasons, Brian Mitchell specialized in returns. So it was fitting that he returned to Washington to retire as a Redskin, five years after a bitter exit.

The NFL's leading career return man signed a one-day contract with Washington, enabling him to retire in the city where he achieved most of his success.

"I had animosity, but I always knew this is what I would do," Mitchell said Wednesday. "The love I received from fans in this area let me know that I couldn't do it any other way. I'd been gone five years, but you would think I still dress in the uniform because they understood what I gave them. I gave so much."

Mitchell, who last played in 2003 with the New York Giants, is second behind only Jerry Rice in combined yardage with 22,330. Rice has 23,546 yards.

Mitchell, who played for Philadelphia from 2000-02, holds 13 NFL records, including kickoff returns (607) and yards (14,014) and punt returns (463) and yards (4,999). He and Jim Brown are the only players who have led the NFL in combined yards four times.

"This is one of the toughest guys I've been around," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. "He played tough, he was extremely emotional and he meant a lot to our team."

Mitchell was a fifth-round pick in 1990 out of Southwestern Louisiana, where he had been a wishbone quarterback. He became a running back with the Redskins but spent much of his time as a return man.

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