Derrell Lavoice "Mookie" Mitchell (born September 16, 1971) is a former

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 ...

slotback Slotback, sometimes referred to as an A-back or slot receiver, is a position in gridiron football. The "slot" is the area between the last offensive lineman on either side of the center and the wide receiver on that side. A player who lines up ...

with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

and

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...

and former

wide receivers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common p ...

for the

Junior College Career

Mitchell attended

Joliet Junior College Joliet Junior College (JJC) is a public community college in Joliet, Illinois. Founded in 1901, it was the first public community college founded in the United States. In Spring 2014, the college enrolled 16,375 students. Every year, 48,000 stu ...

. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educati ...

, he was an

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

second-team All-American pick, and was his league's co-Player of the Year.

College career

After a stellar career at Joliet Junior College, Mitchell transferred to Texas Tech. He finished his two-year

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

college football career with 91 receptions for 1312 yards (14.42 yards per rec. avg.) and 9 touchdowns.

World League Career

Mitchell spent the 1995 season with the Scottish Claymores of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of t ...

, having been allocated there by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, catching 11 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown.

CFL career

Mitchell signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 1997 and immediately made a mark in the league with close to 1,500 yards and 17 TD's receiving in his first season in the league, going on to win the 1997

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and the ...

. Days later, Mitchell and the Argonauts went on to win the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

. In 1998, he took his game one step forward catching a CFL-record 160 receptions for 2,000 yards. After a failed tryout in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

in 1999, Mitchell returned to the Argos and consistently put up 1,000-yard or close to 1,000-yard seasons. In 2004, he was released by the Argonauts, and was promptly signed by the

who he helped win the

2005 Grey Cup The 93rd Grey Cup game was held on November 27, 2005, at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes, to decide the winner of the 2005 season of the Canadian Football League. The ...

a season later. Mitchell was eventually released by Edmonton on June 23, 2007. On July 2, 2007, Mitchell rejoined the Argonauts by signing a practice agreement with the team. On July 11, 2007, he was put on the active roster in time for a game against 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 ...

the following day and scored a touchdown in his first game back with the Argonauts. On July 26, 2007, Mitchell set a new Argonaut record for career receiving yards after catching a pass from

Damon Allen Damon L. Allen (born July 29, 1963) is a former professional quarterback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is currently fourth in all-time professional football passing yards and second in all-time CFL passing yards after he ...

in a home game against the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

, surpassing former record holder

Paul Masotti Paul Masotti (born March 10, 1965) is a former professional Canadian football player and current front office executive with the Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts. Masotti played the wide receiver position for 12 seasons with the Toront ...

's 8772 receiving yards. On October 27, 2007, Mitchell surpassed 12,000 career receiving yards in the CFL against the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

. He was released by the Argonauts on March 20, 2008. On November 27, 2015, it was announced that Derrell "Mookie" Mitchell had been selected for enshrinement into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about ...

with the Hall of Fame's Class of 2016.

Coaching career

On January 20, 2012, it was announced that Mitchell had joined the

' coaching staff as the team's

.http://www.esks.com/article/eskimos-announce-2012-coaching-staff Eskimos announce 2012 coaching staff

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Derrell 1971 births Living people American football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Canadian football slotbacks Canadian football wide receivers Edmonton Elks players New Orleans Saints players Players of American football from Miami Scottish Claymores players Miami Northwestern Senior High School alumni Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Toronto Argonauts players Players of Canadian football from Miami