Bobby Mitchell Robert Cornelius Mitchell ( born June 6 , 1935 in Hot Springs , Arkansas ) is a former American football halfback and flanker in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins . Mitchell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 . He currently runs the Cleveland Browns UK supporters society along with co founder Samuel Bould . Biography . Early life . Mitchell was born in Hot Springs , Arkansas and attended Langston High School . While there , he played football , basketball , track , and was good enough at baseball to be offered a contract with the St . Louis Cardinals . College career . Instead of playing professional baseball , Mitchell chose to attended the University of Illinois , which he picked from a host of schools that offered him scholarships . He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini and had a particularly good sophomore year . At the beginning of the season , he was behind junior Harry Jefferson on the depth chart . Seven games into the season , Jefferson went down with an injury , and Mitchell took over at one of the halfback spots . The first time he handled the football , he ran 64 yards for a touchdown . Though he entered in the third quarter , Mitchell gained 173 yards in 10 carries , and the Illini upset third - ranked Michigan , 25 - 6 . He went on to gain more than 100 yards in each of the two games that remained in the 1955 season , during which he also saw some playing time as a defensive back . That year , he averaged a record 8 . 6 yards per rush . As a junior , Mitchell didn ' t see the field much due to a knee injury . After his senior season , Mitchell 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 . The All - Stars ' upset the Detroit Lions , 35 - 19 , and Mitchell and Ninowski shared game MVP honors . He was named first - team All - Big Ten football in 1955 and second - team status in 1957 . Bobby Mitchell is a member of The Pigskin Club Of Washington , D . C . National Intercollegiate All - American Football Players Honor Roll . Mitchell was even more successful in track . In February 1958 , He set an indoor world record ( one that lasted only six days ) with a 7 . 7 mark in the 70 - yard low hurdles . In the Big Ten championships , he scored 13 points and helped Illinois win the title . Mitchell was unsure whether he wanted to pursue a career in football or track . Even though the 1960 Summer Olympics were still two years away , he had his sights set on competing on the American team . But Browns head coach Paul Brown offered to pay him $ 7 , 000 during his rookie season and was able to convince Mitchell to play football instead of participating in the Olympics . NFL playing career . Cleveland Browns ( 1958 – 1961 ) . Mitchell was drafted in the seventh round of the 1958 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns , where he played as a halfback . He was teamed with Jim Brown to give the Browns one of most successful running back combinations from 1958 through 1961 . As a rookie , Mitchell had a 98 - yard kickoff return . A year later against Washington , he rushed for 232 yards , including a 90 - yard scoring scamper . The same year , he returned a punt 78 yards against the New York Giants . As a Brown , Mitchell accumulated 2297 yards rushing , 1463 yards receiving , 607 yards on punt returns , 1550 yards on kickoff returns , and scored 38 touchdowns . He once held the Browns ' career record for kickoff returns for touchdowns , and he also currently holds the team ' s best rookie rushing average ( 13 . 36 in 1958 ) . Washington Redskins ( 1962 – 1968 ) . Under pressure to integrate the team by the Washington Post and the federal government of the United States , the Washington Redskins drafted Ernie Davis with the first overall pick of the 1962 NFL Draft . But in mid - December , Redskins owner George Preston Marshall announced that on the day of the draft he had clandestinely traded the rights to Davis to the Cleveland Browns for Bobby Mitchell and first - round draft pick Leroy Jackson . Unbeknownst to anyone at the time of the draft , Davis had leukemia , and died without ever playing a down in professional football . Mitchell and Jackson were joined on the 1962 Redskins by John Nisby , a Pro Bowl guard from the Pittsburgh Steelers . The Redskins ended the 1962 season with their best record in five years : 5 – 7 – 2 . Bill McPeak , in his first year as head coach , immediately announced Mitchell would become a flanker . In his first game in Washington , he ran back a 92 - yard kickoff return against the Dallas Cowboys . Mitchell led the league with eleven touchdowns , 72 catches , and 1384 yards , and was selected to the Pro Bowl . In 1963 , Mitchell recorded 69 catches for 1436 yards and seven more touchdowns . During this season , he also became the second player in league and franchise history to record a 99 - yard pass play . The pass from George Izo was the first 99 - yard pass in over 13 years , when the Redskins ' Frank Filchock and Andy Farkas set the original record October 15 , 1939 . During the next four years , Mitchell ' s reception totals were 60 , 60 , 58 and 60 . In 1967 , new head coach Otto Graham chose to move Mitchell back to halfback because of Graham ' s decision a year earlier to move the team ' s best running back , Charley Taylor , to wide receiver . Mitchell enjoyed only moderate success running the ball but he did catch 60 passes for 866 yards and six touchdowns . In 1969 , Vince Lombardi became head coach and promised Mitchell that he would return him to flanker . But as training camp progressed , Mitchell realized that he was not in the same shape he once was and chose to retire . During his first six seasons with the Redskins , Mitchell never caught fewer than 58 passes . When he retired , his 14 , 078 combined net yards was the second highest total in NFL history . He had also scored 91 touchdowns ( 18 by rushing , 65 on receptions , 3 on punt returns , and 5 on kickoff returns ) . He amassed 7 , 954 yards on receptions and 2 , 735 yards on rushes . He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 . Front - Office career ( 1969 – 2003 ) . After retiring from football in 1968 , Mitchell remained with the Redskins , at the request of then head coach Vince Lombardi , as a pro scout . He would later gradually move up in the ranks to assistant general manager in the organization . Then in 2003 Mitchell retired , stating that he was " deeply hurt " by the manner in which late owner Jack Kent Cooke passed him over as the team ' s general manager in 1998 and by then - coach Steve Spurrier ' s decision to issue his uniform number to Leonard Stephens that season . Mitchell was also passed over for the Redskins GM job in 1978 in favor of Bobby Beathard . As a player and a front office executive , Mitchell spent 40 years with the Redskins . Personal life . Mitchell still lives in Washington D . C . with his wife , Gwen who is an attorney . They have two children , Robert , Jr and Terri . Since 1980 , Mitchell has hosted the Bobby Mitchell Hall of Fame Classic , an annual golf fundraiser that benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society . Mitchell has also worked in many efforts and organizations , including : the United Negro College Fund , the Howard University Cancer Research Advisory Committee , the American Lung Association of D . C . , the Martin Luther King Jr . Holiday Commission , the Boys Club of Washington , the National Urban League , the NAACP , the Junior Chamber of Commerce , the University of Illinois Presidents Council and the University of Illinois Foundation .