Jeff Mitchell

Jeffrey Clay "Jeff" Mitchell (born January 29, 1974) is a former American college and professional player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons in the 1990s and 2000s. Mitchell played college football at the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Baltimore Ravens and the Carolina Panthers of the NFL.

Early years
Mitchell was born in Dallas, Texas in 1974. He attended Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida, and played defensive tackle for the Countryside Cougars high school football team. Mitchell set a school career record with seventeen quarterback sacks and earned an honorable mention from USA Today, garnered All-State Class 5A first-team honors, and was named the Pinellas County Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player as a senior. Mitchell was named the county player of the year by the Tampa Tribune and All-Suncoast Defensive Player of the Year by the St. Petersburg Times.

College career
Mitchell received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1992 to 1996. As a true freshman in 1992, the Gators coaching staff decided to red-shirt him. During his four seasons as a Gator, Mitchell was a starter for three seasons and the Gators won four consecutive Southeastern Conference (SEC) titles in 1993 through 1996 and the Bowl Alliance national championship in 1996. Mitchell earned academic honors for four consecutive seasons. As a senior team captain in 1996, he started eight games at center for the Gators' offense that averaged 503.9 yards per game.<ref name=mediaguide As a junior in 1995, he was a first-team All-SEC selection by Football News. During his junior year, he started every game at center and was named the team's Comeback Player of the Year after missing spring practice following arthroscopic surgery. In 1995 and 1996, Mitchell anchored the offensive line alongside his best friend, offensive guard Donnie Young. In the 1996 game against the Georgia Bulldogs, he suffered a broken right ankle, forcing him to undergo surgery and ending his season.

Professional career
The Baltimore Ravens selected Mitchell in the fifth round (134th pick overall) in the 1997 NFL Draft, and he played for the Ravens for four seasons from 1997 to 2000. He saw no action as a rookie in 1997, but became a regular starter in 1998. Mitchell earned a Super Bowl ring with the Baltimore Ravens in 2000, starting at center for the Ravens in their defeat of the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.

Mitchell was the veteran anchor on the Carolina offensive line for five years, from 2001 to 2005. He led the Panthers offensive line that allowed only twenty-six sacks in 2003, a team record for fewest sacks allowed in a season, and helped Panthers rush for a team-record 2,091 yards, including a team-individual mark of 1,444 yards by Stephen Davis. Mitchell joined Jordan Gross as the only Panthers offensive linemen to start every game in 2004.

Mitchell was a starter in 118 of 119 regular season NFL contests in which he appeared during his eight-year professional football career.