Tennessee’s Jason Mitchell Risks NFL Future to Play for the Volunteers
Tennessee Volunteer senior linebacker Jason Mitchell has 31 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble this season. So what, you say?
He did it with a torn ACL and MCL.
Mitchell’s injury occurred during the Vols’ first game against Alabama-Birmingham, but he didn’t know the extent of it until an MRI in early October showed that the ligaments were torn.
Even then, though, the player that Defensive Coordinator and linebacker coach John Chavis has often referred to as the most talented linebacker he has coached in 26 years chose to continue playing for the struggling 2005 Volunteers, consciously risking his future in the NFL. Mitchell explains:
“The NFL is not guaranteed at all. To play a game at this level and live your dream out is something that you can’t get back. I chose to play this game and play as long as I can.
* * * *
I didn’t want to leave on somebody else’s terms. I wanted to leave when I felt I was ready. Even though it could hurt me in the long run. My love for the game and my love for the teammates and my love for the university kept me going. I just played through it.
As teammate Jason Hall said, “It just shows what kind of person he is and the respect he has for this program.”
Fickle Tennessee fans would do well to remember Mitchell the next time they think about booing or throwing things at the players. You never know the whole story.
Fans will get a chance to show their appreciation for Mitchell, Jason Allen, Gerald Riggs, (Allen and Riggs have both, like Mitchell, had season-ending injuries this year that may impact their draft status), and the other seniors on Saturday’s senior day when the Vols host Vanderbilt.
UPDATE: John Pennington concurs:
Wanted to throw in one note as a salute to Jason Mitchell. Eight games. That’s how many games UT’s linebacker has played since tearing the ACL and MCL in his knee.
Why? Because he loves college football. He loves putting on the orange and white.
The crowd at Neyland Stadium may not be spectacular on Saturday, but that’s a kid that deserves a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd.
If you’re thinking about not going to the game, I would suggest you re-think it. Jason Mitchell deserves all the applause you can give him.
November 19th, 2005 at 10:10 am
[…] The Tennessee Volunteer linebacker corps honored teammate Jason Mitchell, who risked his NFL future by playing most of this season with a torn ACL and MCL, this week by asking Coach Phillip Fulmer to move the traditional “last tackle” up a week: Senior linebacker Jason Mitchell got to have his last tackle after all. […]
January 16th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
[…] The Tennessee Volunteer linebacker corps honored teammate Jason Mitchell, who risked his NFL future by playing most of this season with a torn ACL and MCL, this week by asking Coach Phillip Fulmer to move the traditional “last tackle” up a week: Senior linebacker Jason Mitchell got to have his last tackle after all. […]