Mike Mitchell

Michael Mitchell (born June 10, 1987) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at Ohio and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Mitchell spent four seasons each with the Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers, in addition to being a member of the Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts for one season each. Early years Mitchell attended Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky for his first three years. He lettered as a sophomore and junior before transferring to Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, where he lettered one, and earned Kentucky All-Star honors, in addition to being selected honorable mention All-State as a senior. That year, he led the team to the state title, but did not participate in the title game due to eligibility reasons, recording 87 tackles with three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, returning one for a touchdown. Mitchell was at the center of KHSAA transfer controversy after he transferred to Highlands for his senior year. Highlands High School was required to forfeit the 12 wins that Mitchell participated in, making the school the only team to ever go 2-13 and be State Champions. The district appealed in 2010 and the wins were later re-instated. College career Mitchell began attending Ohio University in 2005 to play football for first-year coach Frank Solich. He began the season on the bench but eventually earned his first career start in the second game against Pittsburgh, a 16-10 OT victory. On October 8, he made his first tackle in a game against Bowling Green and ended the game with 5 altogether and one for a loss. Ohio played Toledo in week 10 and Mitchell had a career-high 8 tackles and forced a fumble. He finished his freshman season with a total of 21 tackles, 2 pass deflections, and a forced fumble for an Ohio team that ended the season at 4–7.