MITCHELL, Robert Cornelius, Sr. ("Bobby")

(b. 6 June 1935 in Hot Springs, Arkansas), Hall of Fame football player who amassed impressive statistics as a leading running back, pass receiver, and kick returner; the first African American to play for the Washington Redskins.

Mitchell was born to the Reverend Albert James Mitchell, an ordained minister, and Avis Mary Warthon Mitchell, a homemaker. He was one of nine children—six boys and three girls. Mitchell attended Langston High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he earned a reputation in football, basketball, and baseball. The blazing speed that would serve him so well in football also enabled him to set records in track and field. He was such a fine baseball prospect that the St. Louis Cardinals offered him a contract after his graduation from high school in 1954. Mitchell was recruited by several big-time football schools. He chose the University of Illinois and enrolled there in the fall of 1954. On one of his first days on campus he met Gwen Ezelle Morrow. They later married on 2 May 1958—the spring before Mitchell reported to his first professional football training camp.

As a sophomore Mitchell was an immediate football sensation. He gained 466 yards, a modest total, but he did it at an 8.8-yards-per-carry average. The Fighting Illini, which had finished 1–8 the previous year, rocketed to a 5–3–1 record. Mitchell was named to the All–Big Ten team. That year he was also outstanding in track and field, setting a world record of 7.7 seconds in the indoor 70-yard low hurdles. He also ran a 9.6-second 100-yard dash and broad jumped 24 feet, 3 inches (this competition is now called the long jump). His 13 individual points propelled Illinois to the Big Ten championship.

Unfortunately, Illinois's improvement in football was short-lived. When Mitchell was a junior his team's record was just 2–5—2; in his senior year, 4–5. While the team was going nowhere, however, Mitchell was going somewhere—usually in a hurry. He established a reputation as a runner and pass catcher at Illinois. He also was a world-class sprinter. Mitchell graduated from Illinois with a B.S. in physical education.

Mitchell was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 1958 National Football League (NFL) draft. At six feet tall and 185 pounds, he was considered only average in size for professional football, and thus was projected as a receiver rather than as a heavy-duty runner. He agreed with this assessment of his talents and looked forward to missing out on the pounding he would have taken as a running back. His relatively low position in the draft was attributable to his reputation as a fumbler. Another factor was the thought that he was seriously considering pursuing a spot on the 1960 U.S. Olympic team as a sprinter. But Mitchell and Gwen had just married, and he was committed to football.

Mitchell was also selected to play in the Chicago College All-Star game against the NFL defending champions, the Detroit Lions. In that game he quickly established what became a lasting reputation as a "big play guy." First he got behind the Lions All-Pro defensive back Jimmy David, and scored on an eighty-four-yard touchdown bomb. Then he scored again on an eighteen-yard pass. Mitchell received Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors after the game—a 35–19 upset victory for the collegians.

As a rookie with the Browns, Mitchell started in the back-field with Hall of Famer Jim Brown because of the team's shortage of runners. Brown, 1957's Rookie of the Year and the NFL's rushing leader, did the bulk of the ball-carrying, but Mitchell got his share of attempts and gained an even 500 yards on 80 rushes for a lofty 6.3-yard average. He also scored on a 98-yard kickoff return. Mitchell and the larger Brown were like thunder and lightning. Early in his career Mitchell showed that he really could hang onto the football and that his fumbler reputation was undeserved. When someone asked Browns coaching legend Paul Brown how he managed to cure Mitchell of "fumble-itis," Brown said, "Simple. We told him not to fumble."

The next year Mitchell turned in one of the NFL's best-ever single-game rushing marks—232 yards on just fourteen carries—on 15 November 1959. Only Jim Brown surpassed this yardage, and then by a scant five yards as the still-standing Browns all-time single-game high. In addition to running the football, Mitchell also averaged thirty-two catches in each of his four Cleveland seasons.

Despite Mitchell's stellar performance, the Browns were looking to team another power back with Jim Brown. The player they coveted was the 1961 Heisman Trophy winner, Ernie Davis, like Brown a Syracuse running back. The Washington Redskins held the rights to the ill-fated Davis, who died of leukemia before playing in the NFL. Cleveland traded Mitchell to Washington, along with Leroy Jackson, for Davis's rights. It was a significant trade because Mitchell and Jackson became the first African Americans to play for Washington. Other NFL teams had integrated as early as 1946, but the Redskins owner George Preston Marshall contended that his team's large southern following made it nearly impossible for him to integrate. However, because the Redskins were about to play in a government-funded stadium—D.C. Stadium, later named Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium—Marshall was the object of considerable political pressure. He knew what Mitchell could do, having seen him burn the Redskins in the past. Mitchell looked at the trade optimistically, saying, "When Jim Brown and I would come to Washington to play we talked about the first black who would play here. We both agreed he'd be a big man—there was such a large black fan base here. I just never thought I'd be the guy, but it worked out fine."

Mitchell, at last, became exclusively a pass receiver in 1962. He carried the ball only once from scrimmage—a 5-yard gain. He led the NFL in catches (72) and yards (1,384) and scored 11 touchdowns. In 1963 he caught 69 passes and led the league in yards with 1,436. For the next four years Mitchell averaged over 59 catches a season. He worked hard—perhaps too hard—in the 1968–1969 off-season in preparing for his new coach, Vince Lombardi. He experienced hamstring problems in training camp and announced his retirement before the start of the 1969 season. Mitchell left behind amazing numbers—521 receptions for 7,954 yards and 65 touchdowns, 2,735 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns, a kickoff return average of 26.4 yards and 5 touchdowns, and a 10.1-yard punt return average and 3 touchdowns. In 1963 Mitchell scored on a 99-yard pass play from quarterback George Izo against his old Cleveland teammates.

Mitchell moved right into the Redskins front office after retiring as an active player and has been there ever since. He worked first as a scout and later as assistant general manager. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, who is a law school graduate and a federal government administrator. They have a son and a daughter.

Mitchell is active in charity golf tournaments, Redskins community outreach programs, and does much behind-the-scenes work in D.C. racial relations. He is a member of the Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Area Leadership Council and is on the board of the American Lung Association of D.C. One of the most respected and best-liked executives in the NFL, Mitchell is a role model and father figure to young Redskins players. As a player, the pioneering Mitchell was one of the most versatile and electrifying performers in NFL history. His philosophy was simple but effective. "You have to play with confidence—make him worry about you, not you worry about him."

There is no biography of Mitchell, but his life and career are discussed in Jack Clary, Great Teams, Great Years—Washington Redskins (1974), one of a series of books written in the early 1970s featuring NFL teams; Don Smith, All-Time Greats (1988); and Richard Whittingham, The Washington Redskins (1990).

Jim Campbell