Michael Garrett Mills (born October 12, 1983) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He was selected by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

in the fourth round of the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

. He played college football at

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 ...

. Mills also played for the

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 ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, and

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Early life

Mills attended

Jenks High School Jenks High School is a secondary school located within Tulsa County in Jenks, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of Jenks Public Schools, which first opened the high school location in 1955 and completing the junior and senior high school in ...

Jenks, Oklahoma Jenks is a city in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States, and a suburb of Tulsa, in the northeastern part of the state. It is situated between the Arkansas River and U.S. Route 75. Jenks is one of the fastest-growing cities in Oklahoma. The city ...

and was a good student and a standout in football and basketball. In football, he led his teams to three Class 6A State Titles, was a three-year starter as a tight end, and as a senior he was named the District Player of the Year and he was named the Tulsa World News Player of the Year. In basketball, Mills was a three-year letterman. Mills graduated from Jenks High School in 2002.

College career

He played college football for the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

, where he set an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record in the 2005 season with 1,235 yards receiving (on 87 receptions), the most yards earned receiving by a tight end in a single season. He won the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

for the 2005 C-USA Championship game and was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

selection.

Professional career

New England Patriots (first stint)

Mills was selected in the fourth round (pick 106 overall) of the

by the Patriots. He was not expected to play solely at tight end in the NFL (unlike David Thomas, the Texas tight end the Patriots drafted just before Mills); the Patriots' depth chart once listed him at both tight end and

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. Given that Mills was fourth on the Patriots' depth chart at tight end, he did not see any playing time during the regular season, and was placed on injured reserve in the middle of the 2006 season. On September 1, 2007, the Patriots released Mills.

Minnesota Vikings

Mills was claimed off waivers on September 2, 2007, by the

and made his regular season debut in the season finale against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

and had his first career reception. Mills was released by the Vikings on September 4, 2010, as part of final cuts in preparation for the beginning of the 2010 NFL season.

Philadelphia Eagles

Mills was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 6, 2010. He was promoted to the active roster on September 13. He was waived on December 21.

Cincinnati Bengals

Mills was claimed off waivers by the

on December 22, 2010. He was waived on August 16, 2011.

New England Patriots (second stint)

Mills was claimed off waivers by the Patriots on August 21, but was waived again on August 29. Mills re-signed to the Patriots

on September 14, 2011.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Garrett 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Tulsa, Oklahoma American football fullbacks American football tight ends Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players New England Patriots players Minnesota Vikings players Philadelphia Eagles players Cincinnati Bengals players