Bobby Mitchell: 1959 Topps Football
Player: Bobby Mitchell
Card: 1959 Topps Football Card #140
Team/Position: Halfback, Flanker / Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns
Cost: $9.00
Bobby Mitchell was yet another incredible athlete from the prestigious Big-10 conference. This time, rather than ranting and raving about Ohio State, we’re taking a trek westward to visit Champaign, Illinois, and their Fightin’ Illini. Mitchell was a half-back for the Illini, but didn’t start until late in his sophomore season. Mitchell finished up the season with a bang, but lost the majority of his junior year due to knee injuries. His senior season was successful, but he failed to match his First Team All-American performance of just two years previous.
Mitchell’s athleticism landed him an offer from the St. Louis Cardinals to play baseball before even attending the University of Illinois. Mitchell obviously declined and subsequently starred on the track and field team where his Olympic aspirations were born.
After the Browns drafted Mitchell in the 7th round of the 1958 Draft, Paul Brown had to contend with Mitchell’s Olympic dreams. Brown’s offer of a $7000 salary was enough to change Mitchell’s mind and set the stage for arguably the best one-two combination that the game’s ever seen: Bobby Mitchell and Jim Brown.
Mitchell had track speed and unbelievable “make-ya-miss” potential. Brown had the “make-yah-wish-yah-missed” skill that made him arguably the best player ever to have put on a helmet.
The combination was broken up in 1962 when the Washington Redskins underwent a drastic transformation. The ‘Skins were under tremendous pressure to integrate the team by the local media and even congress, which lead to the eventual acquisition of Bobby Mitchell. The ‘Skins had drafted Heisman winner, Ernie Davis, with the number one pick but traded him to the Browns for Mitchell and Leroy Jackson.
In one of the saddest stories ever told by the NFL (and eventually the silver screen,) Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman; However, Davis succumbed to leukemia before ever playing a down of football in the National Football League.
The Redskins and Bill McPeak saw Mitchell as better suited for the outside and switched him to Flanker. In Mitchell’s first year, he went off for — check this — 72 receptions, 1384 yards, and 11 touchdowns.
Mitchell was absolutely Dyn-o-mite.
Throughout the remainder of his career with the Redskins, Mitchell would never catch fewer than 58 passes in a year, despite being returned to his original half-back position in 1967 by new head-coach, Otto Graham. When Mitchell retired after the 1968 season, his 14,078 combined yards was the second highest total in NFL history.
Mitchell was truly special in every aspect of the game. As a returner, Mitchell would end up returning almost 5% of kickoffs for touchdowns, which ranks fourth in NFL history. As a runner, Mitchell was blessed with the break-away potential that few runningbacks, let alone defenders, could ever match. As a receiver, Mitchell managed almost 8000 yards receiving despite spending a large portion of his career in the backfield.
Mitchell was inducted into the HOF in 1983 after being on the ballot for 10 years.
Seriously, 10 years.
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