Paw Paw's Derrick Mitchell turns in baseball glove for kicking tee

KALAMAZOO -- It was a beautiful, sunny morning at Waldo Stadium when I sat down after football practice with Western Michigan University sophomore Derrick Mitchell. Mitchell, who was a star in baseball, basketball and football at nearby Paw Paw High School where his father Rick is the long time athletic director, was lamenting the cool, crisp spring weather as he rubbed his hands together.

Warm hands are very important to one who must catch, hold and place the football for extra points and field goals and the climate is different compared to what Mitchell is used to after spending the last 10 springs in Florida. Clearwater and Orlando are both a tad warmer than Kalamazoo, Michigan on the last Saturday of March.

Mitchell is not your typical college sophomore, most of whom are a few years removed from yellow buses, home rooms and senior proms. Mitchell played minor league baseball out of high school, spending those ten years in places like Reading, Binghamton, Allentown and Altoona. Mitchell played mostly for the Philadelphia Phillies farm system and spent his final year was with the Atlanta Braves organization.

While in high school, Mitchell signed a letter of intent to attend Michigan State University to play baseball but decided later that summer that college could wait after being drafted by the Phillies and being made a contract offer that was too good to refuse. Once starting professional baseball, Mitchell bounced around the Phillies organization for several years and seemed as though he was putting it together enough to get a call up to the big show.

Mitchell told me about the day a few years back when he was starting to see the baseball really well and his bat was coming around with it. The Allentown Iron Pigs, who were managed by former Chicago Cubs great Ryne Sandberg, were playing a double header. Mitchell was 3 for 4 with four RBI's in the first game and had a grand slam in his first at bat in game two. Then the opposition decided to pitch him inside and the ball hit Mitchell on the knuckles. At the point where he was the closest to getting called up, Mitchell was sent back down to rehab and the rest, as they say, is history.

As part of Mitchell's contract with the Phillies, his signing bonus included paid college upon retirement from baseball. Mitchell seized the opportunity to go to school and enrolled at WMU last year. This made Mitchell a 27-year-old freshman that still had the competitive fire and the longing to get back on the field with teammates. He asked for and was granted an opportunity to walk-on to the Broncos.

"He was a good young man, who clearly was a good athlete and although he was as old as some of our coaches and almost as old as me, we were happy to have him," WMU head football coach PJ Fleck said.

The Broncos had established specialists in punter J. Schroeder and place kicker Andrew Haldeman but they were looking to strengthen the kickoff unit. This is where Mitchell entered the picture.

"I didn't really work on kicking per se during my years playing baseball but I did work on staying in shape. I kicked in high school so it came back to me pretty fast," Mitchell said. "One thing I hadn't done was make a tackle. On my first kickoff in ten years at home against Michigan State in a packed Waldo Stadium, the Spartan returner brought the ball out of the end zone heading right at me. Fortunately my guys were able to tie up most of the Spartan blockers and I was able to get in this guys way and bring him down with a minimum amount of embarrassment."

Mitchell has a good way of fixing that situation from becoming an issue. His next four kickoffs against the Spartans were either booted through the end zone or were unable to be returned. Mitchell had a record 36 touchbacks last year on 87 kickoffs, including 10 each in games versus Ball State and Eastern Michigan.

"The wind really has a lot to do with my distance and some times you just can't tell from the directional flags," Mitchell said. "Many of these stadiums have swirling winds and it may be blowing hard on one end and not the other it's often hard to figure."

When asked about what he likes the most about playing for the Broncos, it is clear that he just likes the team part of it.

"I really like what Coach Fleck has going here and I really believe the best is yet to come. I'm just happy to be a part of it," Mitchell said.

Mitchell will be a much bigger part of it this year as he will also handle the punting and will hold on place kicks, both being roles he did not have last year. Mitchell looks forward to the challenge and clearly wants to be part of the team that brings a Mid- American Conference championship back to Kalamazoo.

The biggest adjustment age wise for Mitchell has nothing to do with play on the field but the culture in the locker room.

"I'm still trying to figure out the lyrics to some of these songs they play in the locker room these days," Mitchell said with a laugh. "In the minors, it was mostly country western playing in the clubhouse."

Mitchell who recently got engaged to girlfriend Heather, said he plans to stay in the area for awhile but will still be spending time on the road during the football season. The Broncos will go to places like Evanston, Champaign Akron and Mt. Pleasant and Mitchell is happy to be along for the ride while helping his team win.