Freddie Mitchell
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Freddie Lee Mitchell (born November 28, 1978 in Lakeland, Florida) is an American football wide receiver who most recently played for the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a 1st round draft pick in the 2001 NFL Draft out of UCLA.
A Frustrating Four Years in Philadelphia
The loquacious Mitchell came to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001 as a first round pick. Difficulty in learning the complex Philadelphia playbook limited him in the first season. The Eagles hoped Mitchell would breakout in 2002, but instead, he only caught twelve passes for 105 yards over the whole season. It was after this dismal performance, despite having the benefit of Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb passing to him, that the utterings of "bust" first began to heard. In spite of his failures, Mitchell remained as bombastic as ever.In the 2003 season, he did show some signs of promise. He found a niche converting first downs (23 of his 35 receptions went for first downs) and caught his second and third career touchdowns. Perhaps, Freddie's biggest on-field contribution came on January 11, 2004, in an NFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Green Bay Packers, where he caught a 28-yard pass on a 4th and 26 play late in the game, in which the Eagles eventually won in overtime.
With the Eagles' acquistion of wide receiver Terrell Owens, Mitchell's production dipped slightly in 2004 (though he still had 18 first downs in 22 catches) and he did not make his frustration over seeing the ball less a secret to anybody. That season, he did catch a 60-yard pass from McNabb on a Monday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys on November 15, 2004. The play is somewhat famous due to McNabb holding onto the ball for a timed 14.1 seconds.
Super Bowl Controversy
The Eagles finished 13-3 and earned a trip to Super Bowl XXXIX. In the week prior to the game, Mitchell was on a short ESPN interview segment conducted by Dan Patrick, where eventually Dan asked him to name each member of the New England Patriots secondary. Freddie said he didn't know them by name, only by number, and proceeded to intentionally get each of their numbers wrong. He finished by saying he knows that #37 is Rodney Harrison and that he's "got something for him." This immediately got reporters rushing to a locker room where different Patriots were interviewed about Mitchell's comments. Harrison shot back at Mitchell with several derogatory insults, including that he "really talks big for a first round bust". Plenty of others on the Patriots appeared to take exception to the comments as well--even mild-mannered coach Bill Belichick later called Mitchell "terrible". Many look back on Mitchell's comments with amusement, noting that Harrison, the player he called out, caught more passes from McNabb in the superbowl than he did. (Mitchell had 1 catch for 11 yards, Harrison had 2 interceptions)In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, Eagles head coach Andy Reid made sure Freddie would not get any opportunities to speak at the podium as to avoid further controversy. However, after the Super Bowl, he continued to sound off in interviews where he criticized McNabb, Owens, and the New England Patriots as well as their head coach, Bill Belichick, saying that the way they reacted reminded him of "little girls". He said that the Eagles would beat them 8 out of 10 times, that T.O. took away from his opportunities that season, and even referred to McNabb as an SOB who didn't have enough faith in him to throw him the ball. Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady took shots at him on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno days following the Super Bowl. All of Mitchell's controversial comments before and after the Super Bowl made him increasingly less popular all around football. The Eagles and head coach Andy Reid, knowing that they wouldn't be able to coexist with him, ultimately decided to release him months later before training camp, a decision that already seemed inevitable anyway. Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser of the afternoon ESPN show Pardon The Interruption are two notable guys who still tend to be nice to him as they've been in the past.
A Bust
After four seasons of underachieving, the outspoken Mitchell was released from the Eagles on May 5, 2005. He then signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, who released him September 3,2005. He likely will go down as a bust.Many Eagles fans are quick to point out the receivers that were passed up by the team in order to take Mitchell in 2001, including Chad Johnson and Steve Smith.
Nicknames
Freddie Mitchell, likely in an effort to secure more of the media limelight, bestowed upon himself several nicknames. These include:- FredEx (claiming he "always delivers")
- The People's Champ (of which he had a belt, similar to the World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE's championship belts, made)
- First Down Freddie
- The Sultan of the Slot
- Hollywood
- February Freddie
- F-Mitch.
- The Slot Machine.
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