Ohio University
Which school did Mike Mitchell (safety) go to from 2005 to 2009?
Mike Mitchell ( safety ) Michael Mitchell ( born June 10 , 1987 ) is a former American football free safety . He played college football at Ohio , and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft . He also played for the Carolina Panthers , Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts . Early years . Mitchell attended Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills , Kentucky for his first three years . He lettered as a sophomore and junior before transferring to Highlands High School in Fort Thomas , Kentucky , where he lettered one , and earned Kentucky All-Star honors , in addition to being selected honorable mention All-State as a senior . That year , he led the team to the state title , recording 87 tackles with three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries , returning one for a touchdown . College career . Mitchell began attending Ohio University in 2005 to play football for first-year coach Frank Solich . He began the season on the bench but eventually earned his first career start in the second game against Pittsburgh . On October 8 , he made his first tackle in a game against Bowling Green and ended the game with 5 altogether and one for a loss . Ohio played Toledo in week 10 and Mitchell had a career-high 8 tackles and forced a fumble . He finished his freshman season with a total of 21 tackles , 2 pass deflections , and a forced fumble for an Ohio team that ended the season at 4–7 . He returned in 2006 for his second season and began the season as a back-up but played in all 14 games . For week 6 , Ohio played Western Michigan and Mitchell recorded a season-high 7 tackles in the 27–20 victory . The next week he received his first start at free safety against Illinois and maintained the starting role for the next seven games . In a week 10 matchup against Eastern Michigan , he made his first career interception in the fourth quarter that led to the game-winning touchdown . The Bobcats played Central Michigan in the MAC Championship , with Mitchell shifting over to strong safety and ending the game with 6 tackles and an interception . After losing to Southern Mississippi , Mitchell ended his season with 55 tackles , 5 tackles for a loss , 1 sack , 2 interceptions , and a forced fumble . After a season where the Bobcats ended with a 9–5 record , Mitchell would return as the Bobcats starting strong safety in 2007 , despite having many injuries . During a week 4 contest with Wyoming , he would amass a career-high 14 tackles and 2 interceptions . The next game , Mitchell would assist 7 tackles and have 1.5 tackles for loss against Kent State . He would end the season with a career-high 74 tackles , 4 tackles for loss , 1.5 sacks , 2 interceptions , and a team-high 47 solo tackles . For his final year Mitchell started 11 games at strong safety for the Bobcats . During a week 4 contest at Northwestern , he picked off 2 passes in an 8–16 loss . While playing against VMI , he made 4.5 tackles for a loss and 2 forced fumbles . After sitting out week 11 against Bowling Green with an injury , he returned the next game against Akron ; Mitchell made 9 tackles in the 49–42 victory . He finished his senior campaign with 62 tackles and led the team with 3 interceptions . Mitchell started 30 of 45 games at Ohio—23 at strong safety and seven at free safety . He ended his career at Ohio with a total of 213 tackles , 126 solo , 14.5 tackles for loss , 3 sacks , 5 forced fumbles , and 7 interceptions for 140 return yards . Professional career . Pre-draft . Mitchell wasnt invited to the NFL Combine , but performed at Ohios Pro Day and was said to have had an impressive showing and one of the best pro days of any player in the 2009 NFL Draft . He ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash and he did 22 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press to go along with a 37½-inch vertical and a 10-foot , 3-inch broad jump . Mitchell met with upwards of 15 NFL teams throughout the draft process . He was projected to be a sixth-round or seventh-round draft pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and analysts . He was ranked the seventh-best strong safety by NFLDraftScout.com . 2009 NFL Draft . The Oakland Raiders selected Mitchell in the second round ( 47th overall ) of the 2009 NFL Draft . He was the fourth safety selected in that draft . The Oakland Raiders selection of Mitchell was highly scrutinized by the analysts and drew an uproar among fans at Radio City Music Hall . NFL analyst Mike Mayock graded him in the seventh round and Mel Kiper Jr . stated that the Raiders couldve possibly signed him as an undrafted free agent . His selection echoed Al Davis pattern of selecting players who are the fastest and typically have performed well at the 40-yard dash . In the first round ( 7th overall ) , the Raiders selected wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey , who had run the fastest 40-yard dash among all the receivers at the NFL combine . Later , it was reported that Mitchell was possibly being targeted by the Chicago Bears ( selecting at 49—two spots behind the Raiders ) . Mitchell has stated that the Bears had called him around the 40th overall pick and told him to stay close to the phone . Chicago Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo said that after both Mike Mitchell and Brian Robiskie were selected before they could select them , they opted to trade out of the round . Mayock later apologized to the Raiders for Mitchells low draft grade . Mel Kiper Jr . later gave it Most Likely To Make The Raiders Look Good Award , stating Oakland took Michael Mitchell , OK ? I asked teams after the draft . The misnomer is its all Mel Kipers opinion , its all Todd McShay . You have to ask other teams . Were not the end-all , be-all . Some said they had him as a free agent . One team told me they had Michael Mitchell in the third round . They had him as a Pro Bowler . They think its a great pick by the Oakland Raiders . So Oakland wasnt the only team out on the island that saw something in that kid . “He’s a second-round pick . I’m happy for him . I had him between 40 and 73 at safety , with a seventh-round grade,” -Mel Kiper Jr . Mitchell is the highest Ohio player to be drafted since Gene Ruskowskis fifth-round selection ( 44th overall ) by the Los Angeles Rams in 1948 . The last time an Ohio student-athlete was drafted in a higher round was the Bobcats only first-round selection , Art Lewis ( ninth overall ) in 1936 by the New York Giants . Oakland Raiders . On July 29 , 2009 , the Oakland Raiders signed Mitchell to a four-year , $3.77 million contract that included $2.03 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.61 million . 2009 . He began training camp competing with veteran Michael Huff for vacant strong safety job left by the departure of Gibril Wilson . Head coach Tom Cable named Mitchell the backup strong safety to Tyvon Branch who won the job after emerging as the top option in training camp . He made his professional regular season debut in the Oakland Raiders season-opener against the San Diego Chargers and made one tackle in the 20–24 loss . On September 27 , 2009 , Mitchell recorded a season-high three solo tackles in a 3–23 loss to the Denver Broncos . On December 13 , 2009 , he earned a tackle and made his first career sack on Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell during a 13-34 loss . He finished his rookie season with 16 combined tackles ( 11 solo ) in 16 games and had zero starts . 2010 . Mitchell competed with Tyvon Branch and rookie Stevie Brown for the starting role as the strong safety , but was eventually named the backup to Branch to start the season . On September 26 , 2010 , he earned his first career start and made two combined tackles in a 23–25 loss to the Arizona Cardinals . During a Week 9 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs , Mitchell finished the 23–20 victory with a season-high seven combined tackles . On December 12 , 2010 , he intercepted his first career pass from Jaguars quarterback David Garrard and made two solo tackles during the Raiders 31–38 loss . He finished his second season in the NFL with 51 total tackles , five pass deflections , and an interception in three starts and 16 games . 2011 . After an 8–8 season in , the Oakland Raiders decided to forgo offering an extension to head coach Tom Cable and promoted their offensive coordinator Hue Jackson to head coach . Mitchell lost the starting strong safety job to Tyvon Branch for the third consecutive season . Mitchell wasnt able to appear in the first three games of the season after suffering a knee injury . He returned in Week 4 and made one tackle and sacked New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady , as the Raiders lost , 19–31 . On October 23 , 2011 , Mitchell made a season-high five solo tackles during the Raiders 0–28 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs . During a Week 12 matchup against the Chicago Bears , Mitchell earned his first start of the season and recorded two tackles in a 25–20 win . On December 11 , 2011 , Mitchell made his third consecutive start of the season against the Green Bay Packers and intercepted a pass from Aaron Rodgers while making four solo tackles during the Raiders 16–46 loss . He finished 2011 with a total of 31 combined tackles ( 22 solo ) , five pass deflections , an interception , and one sack in 13 games and four starts . The Oakland Raiders did not qualify for a playoff berth after finishing 8-8 and head coach Hue Jackson was fired by Mark Davis at the end of the season . 2012 . Mitchell remained the backup strong safety to Tyvon Branch under head coach Dennis Allen to begin the season . This marked Mitchells third different head coach in four seasons . On November 18 , 2012 , Mitchell started his first game of the season against the New Orleans Saints and finished the 17–38 loss with a career-high 11 tackles . During a Week 14 contest against the Denver Broncos , he earned six solo tackles and sacked Peyton Manning , as the Raiders lost , 13–26 . He finished his final season with the Raiders with 41 combined tackles ( 32 solo ) and one sack while starting two games and playing in all 16 . Carolina Panthers . On March 20 , 2013 , the Carolina Panthers signed Mitchell signed a one-year , $1 million contract with $250,000 signing bonus . He competed with Charles Godfrey , D . J . Campbell , and Anderson Russell throughout training camp for the job as the starting strong safety . Head coach Ron Rivera named him the backup to Charles Godfrey to start the season . He played in his first game during a Week 2 match-up against the Buffalo Bills after Godfrey suffered a season-ending injury and made three solo tackles in his place . The following week , he earned his first start during a 38–0 victory over the New York Giants and made two tackles . During a Week 6 match-up against the Minnesota Vikings , he made seven total tackles and intercepted Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel two times , returning them for 62-yards . The following game , he made a season-high eight solo tackles in a victory over the St . Louis Rams . In his only season with the Panthers , he had a career season , making a career-high 3.5 sacks , career-high two forced fumbles , and a career-high four interceptions His play contributed to a season where the defense was ranked second in the NFL in total yards , rushing yards , and points , and helped the team win a division title and playoff berth for the first time in five years . Mitchell finished the season with a total of 66 combined tackles and a career-high 8 pass deflections . Pittsburgh Steelers . On March 11 , 2014 , the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Mitchell to a five-year , $25 million contract that includes $5.25 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $4.75 million . 2014 . Entering training camp , he was the expected starting free safety , replacing Ryan Clark , who left for the Washington Redskins during the off-season . He started the season opener against the Cleveland Browns and made a season-high 7 combined tackles . During a Week 7 contest against the Houston Texans , he recorded a season-high six solo tackles . On October 25 , 2012 , he was fined $7,875 for taunting during a victory over the St . Louis Rams . On November 17 , 2014 , Mitchell recorded five combined tackles in a 27–24 victory over the Tennessee Titans . The following day , it was reported that he was suspended from twitter after direct messaging fans who were critical of his performance , saying things such as die broke , trash , and told another fan to go kill themselves . After starting all 16 regular-season games , he finished with a total of 71 combined tackles and 3 pass deflections . 2015 . The following season , he returned as the Steelers starting strong safety under new defensive coordinator Keith Butler . On October 12 , 2015 , he made a season-high 7 solo tackles in a victory over the San Diego Chargers . Four days later , he was fined $8,681 for an unnecessary roughness penalty against Chargers tight end Antonio Gates during the game . The following week , he made two tackles and intercepted a pass from Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer during the Steelers 25-13 victory . It was his first interception with the Steelers . In Week 8 , he intercepted Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and returned on for 7 yards , while also finishing the loss with five combined tackles . Mitchell finished the season with a career-high 80 combined tackles , three interceptions , a career-high nine pass deflections , and two forced fumbles . 2016 . On November 24 , 2016 , Mitchell finished a Thursday Night Football victory over the Indianapolis Colts with a season-high seven combined tackles , six solo tackles , and intercepted quarterback Scott Tolzien for his first pick of the year . During a Week 17 matchup against the Cleveland Browns , Mitchell recorded seven solo tackles in a 27–24 victory . He finished the season with 77 combined tackles ( 55 solo ) , nine pass deflections , and an interception in 16 games and 16 starts . 2017 . On October 15 , 2017 , Mitchell made three combined tackles in a 19–13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs . During the game , he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on running back Charcandrick West that caused a concussion and placed West in the concussion protocol . Mitchell was later involved in another controversial hit when he delivered a low tackle to the back of quarterback Alex Smiths legs , well after the ball was thrown . Mitchell received widespread criticism from fans that deemed it as dirty as it gets , unnecessary , egregiousness , and Smith later commented that it was , as flagrant as it gets . On October 19 , 2017 , he was fined by the league for both hits : $48,620 for the hit on West and $9,115 for the low tackle on Smith . Mitchells explanation for the hit on Smith was he felt like he was pushed or tripped and was falling and that Smith was also back-pedaling . On March 14 , 2018 , Mitchell was released by the Steelers . Indianapolis Colts . Mitchell signed with the Indianapolis Colts on October 9 , 2018 . In his second game with the team in Week 7 , he recorded seven tackles , one interception , and two passes defensed in a 37-5 win over the Buffalo Bills , earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week . In the wild card round of the playoffs against the Houston Texans , Mitchell suffered a calf strain and was placed on injured reserve on January 9 , 2019 . External links . - Indianapolis Colts bio - Ohio Bobcats bio