Position | Running Back / Return Specialist
Born | Fort Polk, Louisiana
Date-of-Birth | August 18, 1968
Height | 5’11”
Weight | 221 lbs
College | Southwestern Louisiana
NFL Career | 14 seasons (10 with Washington) Teams | Washington Redskins 1990-1999, Philadelphia Eagles 2000-2002, New York Giants 2003
Career Highlights
- Fifth-round pick (130th overall) of the Washington Redskins in the 1990 NFL Draft
- Super Bowl XXVI champion (1991 season)
- Second all-time in NFL career all-purpose yards (23,330) — trailing only Jerry Rice
- NFL record holder for career kickoff return yards (14,014), punt return yards (4,999), and total return yards (19,013)
- 13 career special-teams touchdowns — second-most in NFL history
- 9 career punt return touchdowns — third-most in NFL history
- 4x NFL all-purpose yards leader (1994, 1995, 1996, 1998)
- Washington Redskins 70th Anniversary Team
- Washington Redskins/Commanders 90 Greatest
- Washington Redskins Ring of Fame
Awards
- Pro Bowl (1995)
- First-team All-Pro (1995)
- 2x Second-team All-Pro (1991, 1994)
- NFL punt return yards leader (1991)
Brian Mitchell Turned Every Return Into an Event
Brian Mitchell put up bigger numbers than most people realize. By the time he retired, only one player in NFL history had gained more total yards with the ball in their hands than Mitchell — Jerry Rice. Mitchell did most of his damage on special teams, a feat no one else has come close to matching.
A College Quarterback Turned Return Legend
Mitchell arrived in the NFL as an almost afterthought on paper, a fifth-round pick out of Southwestern Louisiana. His college resume, though, was anything but ordinary.
He remains the only player in NCAA history to both pass for more than 5,000 yards and rush for more than 3,000 yards in a career, and his 47 rushing touchdowns as a quarterback still stands as an NCAA record.
Somehow, he never returned a single punt or kickoff in college. Washington saw something else in him entirely, converting him to running back and return specialist the moment he arrived.
An Electric Debut
Mitchell wasted zero time announcing himself. He returned the opening kickoff of his very first NFL preseason game for a touchdown. That instant impact set the tone for the next decade.
By just his second season as a full-time returner, he led the NFL in punt return yards and helped power Washington’s championship run.
The Most Dangerous Man in Football With the Ball in His Hands
Mitchell’s signature season came in 1991, when he averaged 13.3 yards per punt return and helped Washington roll to a Super Bowl XXVI title. He had almost 1200 yards (1183) in just punt returns and kick returns.
B_Mitch kept climbing from there, leading the NFL in all-purpose yards four separate times between 1994 and 1998. He earned a Pro Bowl trip and a First-team All-Pro nod in 1995.
The numbers, added up over 14 seasons and 223 games, are staggering.
Mitchell finished with 4,999 punt return yards and 14,014 kickoff return yards, both still standing as NFL records. His 13 combined return touchdowns rank second all-time, trailing only Devin Hester. His 23,330 career all-purpose yards sit second on the NFL’s all-time list, ahead of legends like Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith, and behind only Jerry Rice.
No player who wasn’t primarily a wide receiver has ever gained more combined yardage in NFL history.
Life After Football: Still Washington’s Voice
Mitchell never really left. He built a second career as one of the most recognizable and outspoken media voices in Washington sports, first through ESPN 980 and now co-hosting “BMitch & Finlay” on 106.7 The Fan alongside longtime Commanders reporter JP Finlay. He’s also a regular analyst on the team’s own broadcasts, appearing on Commanders.com’s “Command Center: Gameday Live” and “Postgame Live,” and calling preseason games on WUSA9.
Mitchell has never been shy about defending the players and fans he cares about. When Jayden Daniels went down with an injury in 2025, Mitchell didn’t hold back on air. “I got a lot of people in my sights,” he said, promising to call out anyone he felt wasn’t being fair to the team.
He’s just as sharp when it comes to fan behavior, once famously telling doubters to “stop acting like you’re stupid” over media narratives he considered overblown. It’s the same fierce, protective energy that made him must-listen radio for Washington fans for decades — on the field or off it, Brian Mitchell has long supported the Washington franchise.
A Hall of Fame Case Still Waiting
Despite his record-setting career, Mitchell has never been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a fact that still fuels debate among fans and analysts every year.
Supporters point to his longevity, his versatility, and a return resume that may never be matched. Whether or not Canton ever comes calling,
Washington fans have never needed convincing — Brian Mitchell has been one of theirs for over three decades, first as a player, and just as loudly ever since as a voice for the team he helped bring a championship to.
Author’s Note
Brian Mitchell has always had a special place in my heart, and in the history of this site. Back in September 2011, THN was part of the launch lineup for Brian’s “Tailgate” show on BMitchLive.tv — a genuinely innovative format where Brian flipped the usual script and put fans in the seat athletes normally occupy, asking us the questions instead of the other way around. He would have current Redskins players on the show with the fan reps – players like fullback Darrel Young. I was a regular on the show and it is still one of my favorite perks of running this site.
What always stuck with me most, though, wasn’t the show itself — it was how Brian treated us. Long before the NFL or its stars widely recognized independent fan sites and bloggers as legitimate voices, Brian did. Even before the show started, he stopped by our message board regularly, taking time to answer questions directly from our community in dedicated Q&A sessions. That board has since gone offline, so I can’t link back to those threads the way I’d like to — but the memory, and the respect he showed us in the infancy of the site, has never left me.
It took the football world years to catch up to how Brian Mitchell treated bloggers from the very start. Some of us never forgot it.
Body Bag Game
One of the most notorious appearances for Mitchell came in November of 1990 – a game that came to be known as the Body Bag Game. Nine Washington Redskins players left the game due to injury – including both of their quarterbacks – Jeff Rutledge and Stan Humphries. Washington had to put in a rookie running back named Brian Mitchell as the emergency quarterback. Read all about it on this past Flashback Friday.