Up early this morning checking the state of Redskin Nation before my tee time and I find that there is a nice conversation going on about who is the greatest Redskin.

Matt at THE ORB reports that Darrell Green is the winner of ESPN Sports Nation “Franchise Player” poll. No doubt that Darrell to borrow from his HOF speech “belongs” there. Matt makes the case for Sonny Jurgensen as the greatest of all time. Matt makes his case on solid ground. After all Vince Lombardi had this to say about Sonny:

“Jurgensen is a great quarterback. He hangs in there under adverse conditions. He may be the best the league has ever seen. He is the best I have seen.”

Sam Huff told related to me that Lombardi once said, “If I had that red head in Green Bay we would have won 10 Super Bowls.”

Will at Hogs Haven takes the cold analytical approach and says it is Sammy Baugh. Another solid argument, one my grandmother would readily attest to, as she was an eyewitness to some of his feats. Will also reminds us that Baugh was a defensive back and a punter.

At the Curly R, Ben dismisses the notion of one single greatest player, and takes a decadal approach to selecting the greatest Redskins.

Ben, Will and Matt all make fine arguments for their case. However, I would like to add a name that has not gotten serious consideration: Robert Cornelius “Bobby” Mitchell.

Mitchell played running back and wide receiver. He switched to receiver from running back after his historic trade from Cleveland to Washington. You want stats, how about these:

14,078 combined net yards

91 touchdowns,

521 receptions,

8 kick return TDs

6 years with 50+ receptions

All-NFL three times

Played in four Pro Bowl games

HOF Class of 1983

Speaking of stats, it is well known to anyone with knowledge of league history that Paul Brown pulled Mitchell from a game where he was a few yards short of breaking Jim Brown’s single game rushing record.

At the University of Illinois, Mitchell was an Olympic quality track star. He was blazing fast. Watch any of his higlights, there was nobody better in open space.

Now let’s talk intangibles. Bobby Mitchell is a key figure in Redskins history. He was the first African-American to star for a team that was the last to integrate its roster. Redskins’ owner, George Preston Marshall was a staunch segregationist. Legendary Washington Post sports writer Shirley Povich, tirelessly antagonized Marshall for his all-white policy. After a game against the Brown’s Povich wrote “Jim Brown, born ineligible to play for the Redskins, integrated their end zone three times yesterday.”

Washington, DC native Darrell Hill, the first African-American to play ACC football (Maryland) rooted for Lenny Moore and the Baltimore Colts, because of Marshall. Bobby Mitchell changed all that. He brought an African-American fan base to the Redskins.

In his HOF induction speech, Darrell Green specifically mentioned that he was blessed to be mentored by Bobby Mitchell. Furthermore, those of us whose formative years coincided with Gibbs 1.0 need to remember that Mitchell was an assistant general manager and partly responsible for acquiring players like Green and Art Monk et al.

Topics: Bobby Mitchell

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1 comment

July 10, 12:37 PM

Next to Riggo, Bobby Mitchell is one of my all-time favorite Redskins. I learned a great deal about him in my grad-school days. I did a research project on the integration of the Redskins, and as many of you know, our team was shamefully... Read More
Topics: Bobby Mitchell , Hall of Fame , Golf Tournament