Freddie Lee Mitchell II (born November 28, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was chosen as a consensus All-American in 2000 while playing college football for the UCLA Bruins. Philadelphia selected him in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft, and he spent four seasons as a member of the Eagles, culminating in an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX following the 2004 NFL season.
A four-sport athlete at Kathleen High School, Mitchell committed to UCLA to play football for the Bruins. After limited play in his first two seasons due to injuries, he was a Fred Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2000 and earned first-team All-Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) honors at the conclusion of the season. He also helped lead the team to the 2000 Sun Bowl, where he had nine catches for a Sun Bowl record of 180 yards.
Mitchell was selected by the Eagles with the 25th selection in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft. Mitchell alternated between a fourth and slot receiver during his first three seasons. In the 2003 NFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Green Bay Packers, with the Eagles facing a 4th and 26 situation, he caught a 28-yard pass from Donovan McNabb to help lead the team to a win in overtime.
The presence of Terrell Owens in 2004 led to limited opportunities for Mitchell to catch passes and he showed his frustration on and off the field. When Owens went down with an ankle injury towards the end of the season, Mitchell replaced him as the starter and had a two-touchdown performance in the Divisional Playoff Game against the Minnesota Vikings. In the week prior to Super Bowl XXXIX against the New England Patriots, he created controversy by offending members of the Patriots' secondary, including Rodney Harrison. He caught one pass for 11 yards in the Super Bowl and was released by the Eagles on May 6, 2005. The Kansas City Chiefs signed him shortly after, but he declined to have arthroscopic surgery on his injured knee and he was released before the start of the season.
After his NFL career ended, Mitchell bought a barbecue restaurant in Lakeland in 2008, but the venue was closed in September 2009. Mitchell served time in prison for tax fraud from 2013 to 2016.
Early life
Mitchell grew up as the son of a pastor in Lakeland, Florida. He attended Kathleen High School in Lakeland, where he lettered in cross country, baseball, football, and basketball. In baseball, Mitchell was used as a pinch hitter and played outfielder. He played in the Polk County East–West Senior All-Star Game in 1997 for the West squad. He had a .388 batting average, three home runs, and eleven runs batted in (RBI). Mitchell was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 47th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft after graduating from Kathleen. He had brief contract negotiations with the Devil Rays, but decided to attend college instead of signing with a professional team. He was a guard in basketball, and scored 11 points in the 1997 Class 4A boys' high school basketball state championship for Kathleen as the Red Devils won their first ever title. Mitchell, who had three steals in the game, was called for a technical foul after he went out-of-bounds and punched a cooler. In football, he contributed as a wide receiver, kick returner, punt returner, holder for kicker Paul Edinger, and defensive back. Mitchell earned The Ledger second-team all-Lakeland area honors as a utility player following the 1995 season.
Mitchell visited the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Miami, and Michigan State University before he committed to the University of California, Los Angeles to play football for the Bruins. He chose to play on the West Coast mainly because of the opportunities presented for his career after football.
College career
While attending the University of California, Los Angeles, Mitchell played for the UCLA Bruins football team from 1997 to 2000. He sat out the 1997 season by taking a redshirt and subsequently lengthening his college football eligibility. In his first game, a 49–31 win over Texas on September 12, 1998, Mitchell threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brian Poli-Dixon and had four catches for 108 yards and one touchdown pass (79 yards) from quarterback Cade McNown. He had one rushing attempt for 30 yards on a reverse, 78 yards on three kickoff returns, and 17 yards on three punt returns. He was named the Pacific-10 Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in the game. On September 19, Mitchell had surgery on his left femur after suffering a fracture at the end of a kickoff return in the first quarter of a 42–24 win over Houston the same day. Mitchell was expected to miss the rest of the season. However, after a "remarkable" recovery, according to a member of the UCLA medical staff, Mitchell was able to play for eleven snaps in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1999. He threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Durell Price on a flea flicker play in the first quarter of the loss to Wisconsin.
In the summer prior to the 1999 season, Mitchell and Poli-Dixon trained with Minnesota Vikings receivers Randy Moss and Cris Carter in Florida. Mitchell, Poli-Dixon, Danny Farmer, and the rest of the UCLA receiving corps called themselves "The Birds" for their ability to "fly all over the field". In his first career start, replacing the injured Farmer in the season-opener against Boise State, Mitchell had one catch for 11 yards from Drew Bennett, one kickoff return for 15 yards, and four punt returns for 33 yards. In the next week in a loss against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Mitchell again started in place of Farmer and gained 31 yards on two reverses, had four kickoff returns for 73 yards and completed a pass for 18 yards. In a 35–21 win over Fresno State on September 18, Mitchell, again starting in place of Farmer, caught nine passes for 149 yards, both career-highs. Mitchell caught 10 passes for 103 total yards in the next four games. He led the team in receiving for three consecutive weeks to follow: in his sixth start of the season, a 55–7 blowout loss to Oregon State, he caught five passes for 58 yards; in the Bruins' third-straight loss, this time to Arizona, he had 42 yards on four receptions; and in a 23–20 win in overtime against Washington, he successfully received four passes for 82 yards, including a 43-yard pass from Ryan McCann.
Mitchell played baseball for the Bruins in the offseason prior to the 2000 football season. He was teammates with future Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley and introduced Utley to his future wife, Jennifer Cooper. Mitchell was drafted in the 2000 Major League Baseball draft in the 50th round by the Chicago White Sox. Utley said of Mitchell's decision not to play baseball professionally, "he chose the right sport in football, that's for sure. He was a good batting practice hitter—that's about it. He wasn't quite the same once the game got going." The Bruins earned the Pac-10 Conference Championship with Mitchell as a member in 2000.
Mitchell earned preseason first-team All-Pac-10 honors from The Sporting News and Lindy's Sports before the 2000 season as he prepared to take over the starting wide receiver job following Farmer's graduation. Mitchell, along with teammate Poli-Dixon, was named to the Fred Biletnikoff Award watchlist for the outstanding receiver in college football during the preseason. In the season-opener against third-ranked Alabama, Mitchell threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Poli-Dixon on a trick play in the first quarter and made a 46-yard touchdown reception from McCann in the third quarter. He finished the game with four catches for 91 yards in the upset win. In the 24–21 win over Fresno State on September 9, Mitchell led the team in receiving with six receptions for 58 yards and a 20-yard touchdown pass from McCann. Mitchell's catches went into the double-digits against third-ranked Michigan, as he had ten receptions for 137 yards in the 23–20 upset win on September 16. On September 23, in the third quarter of a 29–10 loss against Oregon, Mitchell caught what appeared to be a touchdown in the corner of the end zone, but was ruled out-of-bounds by the officials. The Bruins settled for a field goal on the drive and Mitchell explained after the game that "I knew it was a touchdown, you knew it was a touchdown, everybody does. The ref[eree] knew it too because he looked at me like he was sorry." On the next series, however, Mitchell caught a 54-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Bennett. In a 38–31 comeback win over Arizona State on September 30, he caught two touchdown passes from Cory Paus in the third quarter, one of which was for 80 yards, and had four total catches for 125 yards in the game. On October 14, in a triple-overtime loss to California, Mitchell made eight receptions for 167 yards and caught a 35-yard touchdown from Paus in the fourth quarter.
Mitchell was named to the BCSfootball.com Midseason All-America team after posting 38 receptions for 736 yards and six touchdowns midway through the season. Over the next four games, Mitchell recorded 26 catches for 438 yards, including a seven-catch, 185-yard game against Stanford on November 4. He caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Paus in the game. and threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Poli-Dixon. Mitchell was named a semi-finalist for the Biletnikoff Award in late October. He was named a finalist for the award in late November alongside Antonio Bryant of Pittsburgh and Marvin Minnis of Florida State, but lost out to Bryant. Mitchell earned first-team All-America honors by the Walter Camp Football Foundation following the season, as well as first-team All-Pac-10 honors. He earned CNNSI.com honorable mention All-America honors. He was named a winner of UCLA's Henry R. "Red" Sanders Award for Most Valuable Player, the winner of the George W. Dickerson Award for Outstanding Offensive Player against USC, and a winner of the Team Captain Award at the UCLA football award banquet.
In the 2000 Sun Bowl against Wisconsin on December 29, Mitchell made nine receptions for a Sun Bowl-record 180 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown catch. Though the Bruins lost the game 21–20, Mitchell said Badgers cornerback Jamar Fletcher "couldn't stop [him]." Mitchell was called for two taunting penalties on Fletcher, but still won MVP honors following the game.
In October 2000, Mitchell told the Eugene Register-Guard, a newspaper in Eugene, Oregon, that he was "definitely returning" for his senior season. By mid-November, however, he told the Associated Press that he was "leaning to staying, but nothing's firm." He had 119 catches for 2,135 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career as a Bruin.
Professional career
Pre-draft
After Mitchell declared for the 2001 NFL draft, one NFL scout told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in February, "I don't think he's as fast as people in the press try to say he is. He's absolutely fearless over the middle but he prefers to trap the ball instead of to extend for it. I don't think he has nearly the explosion to be considered a first." Mitchell was also criticized by scouts for his small frame and potential character issues. Draft analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. rated Mitchell as the 16th-best prospect in the draft following the NFL Scouting Combine in which he ran a 4.4-second 40-yard dash, and called him a player on the rise. Kiper also rated him as the fifth-best wide receiver in the draft In rating players several times leading up to the draft, Kiper re-watched game film of each player and adjusted their rankings accordingly. In his March 5 mock draft, Kiper projected Mitchell to be drafted by the Green Bay Packers with the tenth overall selection. He ranked Mitchell as the 18th-best player in the draft on March 30. NFLDraftScout.com projected Mitchell to be drafted in the second round and rated him as the eighth-best wide receiver in the draft. Kiper ranked him the fourth-best wide receiver in the draft on April 2. In his April 10 mock draft, Kiper projected Mitchell to be drafted by the Denver Broncos with the 24th overall selection. Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ranked Mitchell as the sixth-best wide receiver in the draft. Mitchell hired Tom Condon of IMG Football as his agent leading up to the draft.