Brian Mitchell
Transactions: Originally a fifth round (130th pick overall) draft choice by Washington in 1990…
Released by the Redskins on June 1, 2000…
Signed by Philadelphia on June 9, 2000…
Signed by the Giants as an unrestricted free agent on March 3, 2000.
NFL: The finest return specialist in NFL history, as well as an outstanding running back…Has gained 22,001 all-time combined career net yards, 2nd in NFL history behind Oakland wide receiver Jerry Rice (22,248).
Last season, he passed Hall of Famer Walter Payton to move into the position behind Rice…
Mitchell holds league records with 12,897 kickoff return yards and 4,845 punt return yards (and, of course, 17,742 combined return yards).
He also has 1,947 rushing yards, 2,298 receiving yards and 14 fumble return yards…
Mitchell holds 13 NFL records, including kickoff returns and yards and punt returns and yards in both regular season and postseason play…
He is 1st in NFL history in kickoff returns (552) and punt returns (434), and he holds the mark for combined kick return touchdowns (13, including 9 on punt returns and 4 on kickoff returns)…
He is also the NFL's career postseason leader in kickoff returns (32), punt return yardage (339) and punt returns (34, tying him with former Giant David Meggett)…
His 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Tampa Bay on Jan. 15, 2000 was the longest in NFL playoff history…
Led the NFL in combined yards every season from 1994 through 1996, and again in 1998.
He is 1 of only 2 players to lead the league in that statistical category at least 4 times.
The other is Hall of Famer Jim Brown, who did it 5 times…
Since 1960, only 7 players have scored a touchdown rushing, receiving, on a kickoff return and on a punt return in the same season. Only 2, Mitchell and Gayle Sayers, accomplished the feat twice. Mitchell did it with the Redskins in 1997 and the Eagles in 2000…
Has played in 193 consecutive regular season games, the third-longest streak among active NFL Players (excluding kickers and punters). In his first 13 seasons, Mitchell missed only 1 game, on Dec. 22, 1990…
Has spent his entire career in the NFC East, playing his first 10 years in Washington and then 3 in Philadelphia before joining the Giants…
Played on Washington's 1991 Super Bowl championship team…
In June 2002, was named one of the Redskins' 70 greatest players in honor of the franchise's 70th anniversary
2002: Played in all 16 games for the 12th consecutive season, plus 2 postseason games… Finished 2nd in the NFC and 3rd in the NFL with a career-high 27.0-yard average on 43 kickoff returns. Also finished 3rd in the NFC and 7th in the NFL with a 12.3-yard punt return average on 46 punts…Was one of only 2 players to be ranked in the top seven in both kickoff returns and punt returns (the other was Michael Lewis of New Orleans). He was the only player in the NFC to be ranked in the top three in both categories…Returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown at San Francisco (11/25). It was Mitchell's 13th kick returned for a touchdown, breaking a tie with Eric Metcalf and putting Mitchell alone atop the record book. That play, plus his record-setting 206 yards on 6 returns, earned Mitchell his seventh NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award…Returned 5 kickoffs for 143 yards vs. Indianapolis (11/10), 3 for 107 yards at San Francisco and 4 for 122 yards at Seattle (12/8)…Returned 4 kickoffs for 125 yards, including a 70-yarder, in NFC Championship Game vs. Tampa Bay (1/19)…Threw the 1st touchdown pass of his career, a 57-yarder to Brian Dawkins on a fake punt, vs. Houston (9/29)..Joined Troy Vincent and Sean Landeta as the 1st 3 players to play against all 32 NFL teams…Named Eagles special teams MVP by a vote of his teammates.
2001: Finished the season ranked 4th in the NFL with a 25.0-yard kickoff return average and 7th with a 12.0 punt return average…Named Eagles special teams MVP by a vote of his teammates…Earned NFC Player of the Week honors after returning the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown at Arizona (11/4). It was the first time an Eagle had returned an opening kickoff for a score since Sept. 17, 1961 (Timmy Brown)…Had season-high 67 total yards in that game…Caught 6 passes on the season for 122 yards…Returned 6 kickoffs for 128 yards in NFC Championship Game at St. Louis (1/27).
2000: Scored career-high 5 touchdowns in 1st season in Philadelphia, including 2 rushing and 1 each on a reception, kickoff return and punt return…Finished 10th in the NFL with a 10.5-yard punt return average and 6th in the NFC with a 23.9-yard kickoff return average…Was the only NFL player to return a punt and kickoff for a touchdown in 2000, becoming the first Eagle to do that since Alvin Haymond in 1968…Named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring on a 72-yard punt return at New Orleans (9/24), the 1st punt returned for a touchdown by an Eagle since Nov. 22, 1992 (Vai Sikahema vs. the Giants)…Awarded NFL Prime Time Player of the Week honors after gaining 290 combined yards and scoring 2 touchdowns vs. Atlanta (10/1). One of the scores was on a career-long 85-yard rush, the other on an 89-yard kickoff return…That award had been conferred only twice before (Deion Sanders in 1998 and Tiki Barber in 1999)…Scored on a 6-yard run at Dallas (9/3)…Scored on a 13-yard reception at Pittsburgh (11/12).
1999: Averaged 20.8 yards on 43 kickoff returns and 8.3 yards on 40 punt returns…Also rushed for 220 yards on 40 carries, a 5.5-yard average, and caught 31 passes for 305 yards…Surpassed Mel Gray (13,003) to become the all-time leader in combined kick return yards at San Francisco (12/26)…Set an NFL record for longest postseason kickoff return with a 100-yarder at Tampa Bay (1/15)…Scored on a 6-yard run at Indianapolis (12/19).
1998: Led the NFL in combined yardage for the 4th time in 5 years with 2,357, the second-highest total of his career…Led the NFC with 506 punt return yards and was 5th in the conference and 10th in the league with an 11.5-yard average…Was 11th in the NFC with a 22.7-yard kickoff return average…Tied Michael Westbrook for the Redskins team lead with a career-high 44 receptions…Had a career-long 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown vs. San Diego (12/6) and earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors…Scored on a 1-yard run vs. Philadelphia (10/11) and on a 6-yard run at Arizona (11/8)…Tied career-high with 7 receptions at Arizona.
1997: Finished with a combined 2,081 yards…Scored a touchdown rushing, receiving, on a kickoff return and on a punt return…Averaged 11.6 yards on 38 punt returns and scored on a 63-yarder at Arizona (12/7)…Averaged 23.3 yards on 47 kickoff returns and scored on a 97-yarder at Pittsburgh…Scored on a 2-yard run vs. St. Louis (11/30 and on a 6-yard catch vs. Baltimore (10/26).
1996: Led the NFL in combined yardage for the 3rd straight season with 1,995…Had 3 games with more than 200 yards: 228 vs. Indianapolis (10/27), 223 vs. Arizona (11/10) and 206 at Arizona (12/15)…Averaged 11.2 yards on 23 punt returns and 22.5 yards on 56 kickoff returns.
1995: Earned his only Pro Bowl appearance he led the NFL in all-purpose yards for the 2nd consecutive year with 2,359. Topped the NFC with a 25.6-yard kickoff return average and finished 2nd in the NFL with a 12.6-yard punt return average…Was named All-Pro by the AP, College and Pro Football Newsweekly, Football Digest, Football News, Pro Football Weekly/PFWA, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today…Had 290 combined yards, including 240 return yards, at Denver (9/17)…Scored on a 59-yard punt return at Philadelphia (10/8)…Rushed for 301 yards on 46 carries, 6.5-yard average, and scored on a 36-yard run at Denver…Scored on a 22-yard reception at St. Louis (12/17).
1994: Led the NFL with a career-high 2,477 all-purpose yards…Led the NFL with a career-high 14.1-yard punt return average…Finished 4th in the NFC with 25.5-yard kickoff return average… Earned All-Pro honors from Pro Football Weekly, 2nd team All-Pro honors from AP, and All-NFC honors from Football News…Also rushed for a career-high 311 yards on 78 carries…Was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance at New Orleans (9/11), when he gained a combined 252 yards, including a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown and an 86-yard kickoff return that set up another score…Scored on a 46-yard reception vs. Arizona (10/16) and on a 78-yard punt return at the Rams (12/24).
1993: Averaged 20.5 yards on 33 kickoff returns and a career-low 6.7 yards on 29 punt returns…Scored a career-high 3 rushing touchdowns, including 2 (on runs of 29 and 1 yards) in career-high 116-yard performance vs. Dallas (9/6) in Monday night season opener…Also scored on 1-yard run vs. Indianapolis (11/7)…Caught 7 passes at Miami (10/4).
1992: Finished 6th in the NFC with a 9.3-yard punt return average and 8th with a 21.4-yard kickoff return average…Scored on an 84-yard punt return vs. Giants (11/)…Led Redskins with 22 special teams tackles… Threw a lateral pass to Desmond Howard on a punt return that resulted in a 55-yard touchdown return vs. Atl. (9/13)…Gained 209 yards in Wild Card playoff victory at Minnesota (1/2). Rushed for 109 yards (including 38 on a fake punt that set up his own 8-yard score), caught 3 passes for 16 yards, returned a kickoff 14 yards and returned 3 punts for 70 yards.
1991: Led the NFL with 600 punt return yards and was 2nd in the league with a 13.3-yard average…Named first-team All-Pro by Pro Football Newsweekly, 2nd team All-Pro by AP, and All-NFC by Football News…Was 8th in the NFC with a 20.1-yard kickoff return average…Named second-team All-Pro by the AP, and first team by College and Pro Football Weekly…Scored on a 69-yard punt return vs. Detroit (9/1) and a 66-yarder at Cincinnati (9/22)…Had a 16-yard kickoff return in Super Bowl XXII.
1990: Averaged 20.3 yards on 18 kickoff returns and 8.9 yards on 12 punt returns…Finished second on the team with 26 special teams tackles…Played quarterback in a Monday night game at Philadelphia (11/12) when Jeff Rutledge and Stan Humphries suffered injuries. In his only series, he directed the Skins to a touchdown, completing 3 of 6 passes for 40 yards and rushing twice for 11 yards, including a 1-yard score…Scored on a 92-yard kickoff return the first time he touched the ball as a pro, in a preseason game vs. Atlanta (8/11).
College: At Southwestern Louisiana, Mitchell became the first player in NCAA history to pass for more than 5,000 yards (5,447) and rush for more than 3,000 yards (3,335)…Also held the NCAA record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (47)…As a senior, Mitchell rushed for 1,311 yards and passed for 1,966 yards while accounting for 25 touchdowns (six passing, 19 rushing)…As a junior, Mitchell was chosen the state's outstanding college football player after totaling 2,550 yards 91,897 rushing, 743 passing)…Ironically, Mitchell never returned a punt or a kickoff in college.
Personal: Married (Monica)…The couple has 4 children , son Willie (11/15/88), and daughters, Bria (3/31/94), Maia (11/23/99) and Alia (5/12/02)…Is the youngest of 7 children in his family…Launched the Brian Mitchell in 2001 to help disadvantaged children in Washington, Philadelphia and his hometown of Plaquemine, La…The foundation's kickoff luncheon hosted children from Boys and Girls Clubs from the Philadelphia area and honored them for their achievements…In April, 2002, rang the opening bell at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange on "Trade for the Kids" day. On this day, children from the Greater Philadelphia Mentoring Partnership visited the Exchange to learn about jobs in the financial industry…Participated in the "Five Points of Life" bike ride to raise awareness for organ donation in 2000..Founded the "Brian Mitchell Returning to Your Roots Program," which supports the youth in Plaquemine and provides them with academic scholarships, after-school athletic programs and holiday dinners…His former high school English teacher, Carolyn Brown, was named the 1995 NFL Teacher of the Year…Completed an outstanding career at Plaquemine High School, leading the team to the state title, while being selected the state offensive player of the year…Hobbies include golf, fast cars, water sports, and music…Born in Fort Polk, La., on Aug. 18, 1968.
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10.27.2003 Brian Mitchell just 40 yards from the top
Brian Michell up on Jerry Rice by 215 yards
