Marko Terrell Mitchell (born March 11, 1985) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He was selected by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in the seventh round of the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Nevada Wolf Pack The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada. H ...

. Mitchell was also a member of the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Early life

Mitchell was born on March 11, 1985, in

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in and seat of government of St. Clair County, Michigan, United States. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Po ...

, to mother Geneva Mitchell. He attended Sumter County High School in

York, Alabama York is a city in Sumter County, Alabama, United States. Founded around 1838 after the merging of two communities, Old Anvil and New York Station, the latter a station on a stagecoach line. The rail came through in the 1850s and later, the "Ne ...

, where he was a standout basketball player.Marko Mitchell Bio
, University of Nevada, retrieved June 5, 2009. He began playing football during his junior year.

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

recruiters showed interest in Mitchell, but he did not score high enough on the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

.Mark Viera, "Redskins Rookie Has the Tools, But Still Faces an Uphill Climb", ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', p. D3, June 5, 2009.

College career

He initially attended

Itawamba Community College Itawamba Community College is a public community college with its main campus in Fulton, Mississippi. Additional campuses are in Belden and Tupelo. History Itawamba Community College began as an extension of Itawamba County Agricultural Hi ...

Fulton, Mississippi Fulton is a city in and the county seat of Itawamba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 4,542 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Tupelo Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Fulton is named for Robert Fulton, ...

, but did not play on the football team. Mitchell said the school promised him an athletic scholarship, but gave it to someone else. The following year, he transferred to

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a Public college, public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the Unite ...

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

, where he played football. He recorded 34

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

s for 719 yards and eight

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s for an average of 21.1 yards per catch. He transferred to the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

, and played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

starting in the 2006 season. That year, he saw action in all 13 games including seven starts. Against Northwestern, he recorded a season-high of six catches. He compiled two receptions for 72 yards against Utah State. He also scored against

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, and

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

. In the 2006 MPC Computers Bowl against

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Mitchell recorded the Wolf Pack's only touchdown with one reception for 27 yards. In 2007, he recorded 53 receptions for 1,129 yards and eight touchdowns, and led the team in each category. His 21.3 yards per catch ranked the second-highest average in the nation after

Brennan Marion Brennan Randall Marion (born August 25, 1987) is an American college football coach and former player who currently serves as the Head coach, head coach at Sacramento State Hornets football, Sacramento State. He has previously served as the offe ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. Mitchell's 86.8 receiving yards per game ranked the sixth-best in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC) and 23rd in the nation. He also ranked tenth in the WAC with 4.08 receptions per game. Against

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, he recorded 144 yards and a career-first two touchdowns. He also recorded at least 100 receiving yards against

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

. Going into the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

season, he was named a

Phil Steele's Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

preseason first-team All-WAC, Athlon Sports preseason second-team All-WAC, and Lindy's preseason second-team All-WAC. Mitchell saw action in all 13 games and compiled 61 receptions for 1,141 yards and ten touchdowns. He recorded 100-yard games against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

, Utah State,

, and against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

in the 2008 Humanitarian Bowl. After the season, he was named to the All-WAC first-team.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Mitchell was selected in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft (243rd overall) by the

. At the 2009 NFL Combine, he ran the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

in 4.49 seconds, and his size and speed had impressed the Redskins staff. He was expected to compete with 12-year NFL veteran James Thrash for the fifth wide receiver position on the Washington roster, but Thrash was released in June after failing a physical. On June 13, the Washington Redskins signed Marko Mitchell to a 4-year, $1.793 million contract. On May 3, 2010, Mitchell was waived by the Redskins.

Detroit Lions

Mitchell was claimed off waivers by the

on May 5, 2010. He was waived on June 25.

Minnesota Vikings

Mitchell was claimed off waivers by the

on June 28, 2010. After playing in three pre-season exhibition games Mitchell was waived by the Vikings on August 31, 2010.

Edmonton Eskimos

The Edmonton Eskimos of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

signed Mitchell on September 7, 2010. He was later released.

Calgary Stampeeders

On June 3, 2011, the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

signed Mitchell to an undisclosed contract. He was waived during final cuts before the start of the 2011 CFL season.

References

External links

Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Marko 1985 births Living people American football wide receivers Detroit Lions players Edmonton Elks players Minnesota Vikings players Nevada Wolf Pack football players Players of American football from Michigan Players of American football from Alabama Sportspeople from Port Huron, Michigan People from Sumter County, Alabama Washington Redskins players Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football wide receivers Players of Canadian football from Michigan