View source for Jeff Mitchell

{{Short description|American football player (born 1974)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Jeff Mitchell
| number      = 60
| position    = [[Center (American football)|Center]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1974|1|29|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Dallas, Texas]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 4
| weight_lb   = 300
| high_school = [[Countryside High School|Clearwater (FL) Countryside]]
| college     = [[Florida Gators football|Florida]]
| draftyear   = 1997
| draftround  = 5
| draftpick   = 134
| pastteams   =
* [[Baltimore Ravens]] ({{NFL Year|1997|2000}})
* [[Carolina Panthers]] ({{NFL Year|2001|2005}})
| highlights  =
* [[Super Bowl champion]] ([[Super Bowl XXXV|XXXV]])
* [[Bowl Alliance|Bowl Alliance National Championship]] ([[1997 Sugar Bowl|1996]])
* Third-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1996 College Football All-America Team|1996]])
* First-team [[List of All-SEC football teams|All-SEC]] ([[1996 All-SEC football team|1996]])
| statlabel1  = Games played
| statvalue1  = 119
| statlabel2  = Games started
| statvalue2  = 118
| statlabel3  = [[Fumble]] recoveries
| statvalue3  = 2
| pfr         = MitcJe20 
}}

'''Jeffrey Clay Mitchell''' (born January 29, 1974) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[Center (gridiron football)|center]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1990s and 2000s.  Mitchell played [[college football]] for the [[Florida Gators football|Florida Gators]], where he was a member of a national championship team.  Thereafter, he played professionally for the [[Baltimore Ravens]] and the [[Carolina Panthers]] of the NFL.

== Early life ==

Mitchell was born in [[Dallas, Texas]] in 1974.<ref name=pfrprofile>Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MitcJe20.htm  Jeff Mitchell].  Retrieved July 28, 2010.</ref>  He attended [[Countryside High School]] in [[Clearwater, Florida]],<ref name=dbfprofile>databaseFootball.com, Players, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070208211416/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=MITCHJEF01  Jeff Mitchell]}}.  Retrieved July 28, 2010.</ref> and played [[defensive tackle]] for the Countryside Cougars high school football team.  Mitchell set a school career record with seventeen [[quarterback sack]]s and earned an honorable mention from ''[[USA Today]]'', and garnered All-State Class 5A first-team honors.<ref name="flavor">"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4b4wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e_0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6009,5596485&dq=jeff+mitchell&hl=en  Today's Game Has a Definite Florida Flavor]," ''The Ledger'', p. C1 (January 1, 2001).  Retrieved October 3, 2010.</ref>  Mitchell was named the county player of the year by the ''[[Tampa Tribune]]''<ref>{{cite news |title=Ravens' center of attention |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=20010126&id=uVFUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jY4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6545,5435648&hl=en |newspaper=[[Boca Raton News]] |date=January 26, 2001 |access-date=April 9, 2015}}</ref> and All-Suncoast Defensive Player of the Year by the ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Coaches' visits mean time to tidy |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19920114&id=tBQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c1wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2371,4034525&hl=en |newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=January 14, 1992 |access-date=April 9, 2015}}</ref>

== College career ==

Mitchell accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the [[University of Florida]] in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach [[Steve Spurrier]]'s [[Florida Gators football]] team from [[1992 Florida Gators football team|1992]] to [[1996 Florida Gators football team|1996]].<ref name=ufmediaguide>''[http://web.gatorzone.com/football/media/2011/media_guide.pdf  2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402035222/http://web.gatorzone.com/football/media/2011/media_guide.pdf |date=April 2, 2012 }}'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 88, 97, 99, 125, 184 (2011).  Retrieved August 31, 2011.</ref>  As a true freshman in 1992, the Gators coaching staff decided to [[redshirt (college sports)|redshirt]] him.  During his four seasons as a Gator, Mitchell was a starter for three seasons and the Gators won four consecutive [[Southeastern Conference]] (SEC) titles in [[1993 Florida Gators football team|1993]] through 1996 and the [[Bowl Alliance]] national championship in 1996.<ref name="flavor"/>  Mitchell earned academic honors for four consecutive seasons.<ref name=ufmediaguide/>  As a senior team captain in 1996, he started eight games at center for the Gators' offense that averaged 503.9 yards per game.<ref name=ufmediaguide/>  As a junior in [[1995 Florida Gators football team|1995]], he was a first-team All-SEC selection by ''Football News''.  During his junior year, he started every game at center and was named the team's Comeback Player of the Year after missing spring practice following [[arthroscopic surgery]].  In the 1996 game against the [[1996 Georgia Bulldogs football team|Georgia Bulldogs]], he suffered a broken right ankle, forcing him to undergo surgery and ending his season.<ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8KRAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lwcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3246,7306059&dq=jeff+mitchell&hl=en  Surgery ends Mitchell's Gator career]," ''Ocala Star-Banner'', p. 4D (November 27, 1996).  Retrieved October 3, 2010.</ref>

In one of a series of articles published in 2006, the sportswriters of ''The Gainesville Sun'' rated him as the No. 41 all-time greatest Gator from the first century of Florida football.<ref>Robbie Andreu & Pat Dooley, "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094029/http://www.gainesville.com/article/20060724/GATORS70/60721026  No. 41 Jeff Mitchell]}}," ''The Gainesville Sun'' (July 24, 2006).  Retrieved April 2, 2013.</ref>

== Professional career ==

The [[Baltimore Ravens]] selected Mitchell in the fifth round (134th pick overall) in the [[1997 NFL draft]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=1997 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1997/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He played for the Ravens for four seasons from {{NFL Year|1997}} to {{NFL Year|2000}}.<ref name=nflprofile>National Football League, Historical Players, [http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/3977  Jeff Mitchell].  Retrieved July 28, 2010.</ref>  He saw no action as a rookie in 1997, but became a regular starter in 1998.<ref name=pfrprofile/>  Mitchell earned a [[Super Bowl]] ring with the [[Baltimore Ravens]] in 2000, starting at center for the Ravens in their victory against the [[New York Giants]] in [[Super Bowl XXXV]].<ref>Pro-Football-Reference.com, [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200101280nyg.htm  Baltimore Ravens 34 vs. New York Giants 7].  Retrieved May 24, 2011.</ref>

Mitchell was the veteran anchor on the Carolina offensive line for five years, from {{NFL Year|2001}} to {{NFL Year|2005}}.<ref name=nflprofile/>  He led the Panthers offensive line that allowed only twenty-six sacks in 2003, a team record for fewest sacks allowed in a season, and helped Panthers rush for a team-record 2,091 yards, including a team-individual mark of 1,444 yards by [[Stephen Davis (American football)|Stephen Davis]].  Mitchell joined [[Jordan Gross]] as the only Panthers offensive linemen to start every game in 2004.<ref>Pro-Football-Reference.com, [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/car/2004_roster.htm  2004 Carolina Panthers].  Retrieved May 24, 2011.</ref>

Mitchell was a starter in 118 of 119 regular season NFL contests in which he appeared during his eight-year professional football career.<ref name=pfrprofile/>

During the off-seasons, Mitchell served as the Vice President of Client Relations for Threadfin Business Solutions. He currently holds that position on a full-time basis.

== See also ==

{{Portal|American football|College football}}
* [[Florida Gators football, 1990–99]]
* [[List of Carolina Panthers players]]
* [[List of Florida Gators football All-Americans]]
* [[List of Florida Gators in the NFL draft]]
{{Clear}}

== References ==

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Bibliography ==

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007).  {{ISBN|0-7948-2298-3}}.
* Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators!  An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002).  {{ISBN|0-9650782-1-3}}.
* Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002).  {{ISBN|1-58261-514-4}}.
* McCarthy, Kevin M., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_Tk-IQepI6cC  Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football]'', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000).  {{ISBN|978-0-7385-0559-6}}.
* Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998).  {{ISBN|1-57167-196-X}}.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Jeff}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American football centers]]
[[Category:Baltimore Ravens players]]
[[Category:Carolina Panthers players]]
[[Category:Florida Gators football players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Clearwater, Florida]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Dallas]]