EDITOR'S NOTE: As the Falcons draw closer to an NFC South showdown with the Buccaneers, AtlantaFalcons.com will present stories on the team's alumni, which will gather to watch the game. It will be a bittersweet gathering, though, as the team will remember glory days on the field and two-time Pro Bowler Jim Mitchell, who passed away in October.
As a football player, that work included some tough love and hard hits.
From the players he leveled with blind-side hits to the high school athletes he taught how to block, it's impossible to measure the number of lives Mitchell crossed paths with during his life.
Mitchell, who played for the Falcons from 1969-1979 and went to two Pro Bowls, passed away from a heart attack on Oct. 20. He was 60 years old. His sons will be at the Falcons game Sunday to accept a few artifacts from their fathers' career and attend the annual Alumni Tailgate prior to kickoff.
According to one of Mitchell's sons, Damian, the tight end never lost touch with Falcons memories.
A fourth-round selection out of Prairie View in 1969, Mitchell twice led the Falcons in receiving. In 10 seasons with the Birds, Mitchell grabbed 305 passes for 4,358 yards and 28 touchdowns. He was named the team's "Player of the Year" in 1970.
After his playing career, Mitchell coached the game at Morehouse and Morris Brown. His health declined in recent years due to diabetes, but he still volunteered his time at a Shelbyville, Tenn. high school. Damian said his father's vision had weakened to the point where he could only make out the position of players' feet.
But that didn't stop him from coaching.
"He could tell by their feet if they were going to miss a block," Damian said.
The anecdote doesn't surprise former Falcons linebacker Tommy Nobis, who played with Mitchell for eight seasons.
Nobis said Mitchell had an incredible drive and an uncanny sense for the intricacies of the game. He knew how to block and spent most of his time roaming the middle of the field searching for a way to spring a running back or a receiver for a big gain.
"He was a very aggressive, tough, football player," Nobis said. "I always told our coaches he was playing on the wrong side of the ball. He had the makeup of a defensive player. We would scrimmage and if Jim Mitchell was on that offense I had my head on a swivel because you knew when he was going to come look you up."
Nobis said former Falcons coach Norm Van Brocklin gave weekly "Jock Awards" to players that "knocked an opponent out of their jock strap." The line-backing legend delivered plenty of big hits over his career but Mitchell sometimes beat him out.
"Normally you would think a defensive player would win it," Nobis said. "Of course, there were a lot of times I thought I should have won it. Jim Mitchell had more Jock awards than anybody on the whole team."
Damian said his father always felt connected to the Falcons franchise, even when he moved back to his boyhood hometown of Shelbyville. Mitchell carried Falcons memories with him throughout his life, including that of his touchdown catch in the 1978 playoffs -- the first in team history. But it was the players -- the friendships -- that drove Mitchell deep into his retirement.
He used those relationships to educated scores of teens and men about the game.
"It was kind of an extension to dealing with the Falcons," Damian said. "He definitely enjoyed coaching; it definitely wasn't for pay reasons. It was just being able to give the experience and the stories from where he came from and also what he learned during the whole period with the Falcons. It was a great time for us to watch him be able to go to a college and say 'I did this as a member of the Falcons...'
"His main goal was to take his knowledge and life experience and pass them on to everyone he could."
MORE FROM FALCONS ALUMNI WEEK 2007:
- NEWS: Alumni gather at annual tailgate party
- FEATURE: Former quarterback stays close to Falcons
- FEATURE: Team remembers tight end Mithcell
- FEATURE: Pridemore family involved in all levels of game
- VIDEO: 2007 Alumni Week Tailgate
