Marko Terrell Mitchell (born March 11, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver. He was drafted 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

in the seventh round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth 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. ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

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. Hi ...

. 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) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

and

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

Early years

Mitchell was born on March 11, 1985 in

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

to mother Geneva Mitchell. He attended

Sumter County High School Sumter County High School was a senior high school in York, Alabama. It was a part of the Sumter County School District. In 1968 the student body was 99.1% white and 90.1% of the teachers were white. Due to white flight, no white students remain ...

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 "New ...

, 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 (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

recruiters showed interest in Mitchell, but he did not score high enough on the SAT.Mark Viera, "Redskins Rookie Has the Tools, But Still Faces an Uphill Climb", ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

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

College career

He initially attended Itawamba Community College in

Fulton, Mississippi Fulton is a city in and the county seat of Itawamba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,961 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Tupelo Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Fulton was established in 1837 as a coun ...

, 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 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 United States in ter ...

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Communit ...

, 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 ...

s for 719 yards and eight

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

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 land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

, 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-s ...

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 Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. He also scored against Arizona State,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

, and

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

. In the

2006 MPC Computers Bowl The 2006 MPC Computers Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game held on December 31, 2006 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The game featured tie-ins between the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) which was represented by the Miami Hurrica ...

against

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, 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 football coach and former American football wide receiver who is currently the offensive coordinator at UNLV. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2009. ...

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

. 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, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of t ...

(WAC) and 23rd in the nation. He also ranked tenth in the WAC with 4.08 receptions per game. Against San Jose State, he recorded 144 yards and a career-first two touchdowns. He also recorded at least 100 receiving yards against Fresno State,

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. 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 became a pub ...

, New Mexico State. Going into the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

season, he was named a Phil Steele's 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. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, and against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

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 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 James Ray Thrash (born April 28, 1975) is a former American football wide receiver. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 1997. He played college football at Missouri Southern State University. Thrash also pla ...

for the fifth wide receiver position on the Washington roster, but Thrash was released in June after failing a

physical Physical may refer to: * Physical examination, a regular overall check-up with a doctor * ''Physical'' (Olivia Newton-John album), 1981 ** "Physical" (Olivia Newton-John song) * ''Physical'' (Gabe Gurnsey album) * "Physical" (Alcazar song) (2004) * ...

. 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; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

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 of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

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 People from Port Huron, Michigan People from Sumter County, Alabama Sportspeople from Metro Detroit Washington Redskins players