He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini and professionally for the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins.

He joined their scouting department in 1969 and was named assistant general manager in 1981, spending over 40 years with the team in total before retiring in 2002.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and had his jersey number 49 retired by the Redskins following his death in 2020.

[1] Instead of playing professional baseball, Mitchell chose to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which he picked from a host of schools that offered him scholarships.

[2] After his senior season, he was invited to play in the College All-Star Game, where he got behind defensive back, James David on an 84-yard touchdown reception, and then scored again on an 18-yard pass from Jim Ninowski.

A year later against Washington, he rushed for 232 yards, including a 90-yard scoring scamper, a Browns record until it was broken by Nick Chubb in 2018.

[1] He once held the Browns' career record for kickoff returns for touchdowns, and he also currently holds the team's best rookie rushing average (6.3 in 1958).

[7] Under pressure to integrate the team by the U.S. federal government, the Washington Redskins selected Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis with the first overall pick of the 1962 NFL draft.

[8][9] However, Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, wary of Davis's potential salary demands, traded his rights to the Cleveland Browns for Mitchell and first-round draft pick Leroy Jackson.

[9] Mitchell, along with John Nisby, Leroy Jackson, and Ron Hatcher, was one of four black players on the 1962 Redskins, as the franchise became the last professional football team to integrate.

[12] After retiring from football in 1968, Mitchell remained with the Redskins, at the request of then head coach Vince Lombardi, as a pro scout.

[13] He gradually moved up in the ranks to assistant general manager in the organization,[9] and he aspired to become the NFL's first black GM.

[13] In 1978, Washington owner Edward Bennett Williams passed over Mitchell for the GM position in favor of Bobby Beathard.

[6][13] Mitchell retired in 2003, stating that he was "deeply hurt" by how owner Jack Kent Cooke passed him over as the team's general manager in favor of Charley Casserly in 1989 and by coach Steve Spurrier's decision to issue his No.