By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Whatever “it” is, Freddie Mitchell’s got
it.
Maybe he got it from his home of Florida, maybe it comes from
the football field. Or maybe it came from living at UCLA, just an
out pattern away from Hollywood.
In Mitchell’s case, “it” is a combination of a
lot of things. Flair, for starters.
Example: a player looking to make a big splash would kill to get
267 yards in his first collegiate game. A player with
“it” gets his 267 yards the Freddie way ““ 78
yards on kickoff returns, 30 rush yards on a reverse, 113 receiving
yards and a 34-yard touchdown pass.
For somebody who’s got it, Los Angeles is the place to be.
“I Love L.A.,” Mitchell said. “I’ve gotten
to meet so many interesting people, do so many interesting things.
It’s amazing.”
Mitchell has gone to movie sets, met Hollywood stars, and even
found his way into a party or two at the Playboy Mansion.
“I’ve become good friends with Elizabeth Hurley, and
I hang out with Mario Lopez (A.C. Slater from NBC’s Saved by
the Bell) a lot,” Mitchell said.
“I wouldn’t mind going into Hollywood after
football. But it is football first. I wouldn’t have any of
this if it weren’t for football,” he continued.
“He’s always gonna make you laugh,” wide
receiver Brian Poli-Dixon said. “He’s gonna keep it
loose. He’s the guy that’s going to dress crazy and
always do funny stuff.”
It’s no mystery to anybody that football, not Hollywood,
is what really drives Mitchell.
“He’s the football equivalent of a gym rat. He
always wants to be out on the field,” said head coach Bob
Toledo.
Mitchell proved that for the second year in a row last summer,
when he elected not to return home to Florida, instead working out
with other Bruins in voluntary 7-on-7 drills. Two summers ago,
along with Poli-Dixon, Mitchell spent the off-season working out
with Chris Carter and Randy Moss, two of the NFL’s best
receivers.
“I never thought NFL dudes worked so hard. I learned so
much from them. Routes, how to get separation from a defender, and
a lot about speed,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell’s first game, the 267-yard outburst in the 1998
season opener against Texas, was the first time he played a game
for 22 months. After Mitchell arrived in Westwood from Lakeland,
Fla., he found out he would have to miss his first season. Mitchell
had not performed well enough on a test, making him ineligible for
at least half the season.
“I was frustrated. I wanted to play,” he said. Coach
Toledo had already made the decision, though. Mitchell would not be
eligible to play until mid-season, but Toledo sat him out for the
whole season in order to keep him eligible for a full four
years.
That was the first lesson Mitchell learned at UCLA. “I
wasn’t very good at taking tests.”
Lesson two: Just because you got it, you don’t always have
to show it.
“It” has its roots in what Mitchell likes to call
“Florida Style.” Players from 1997, Mitchell’s
redshirt year, knew all about Freddie. Offensive lineman loved his
toughness, and quarterback Cade McNown couldn’t wait to add
him to the already potent receiving mix of Danny Farmer and Brian
Poli-Dixon.
But Mitchell displayed a little too much Florida Style.
Sometimes when he beat a defensive back in practice, he would point
a finger. One time he even pranced into the end zone backward to
show up a defender.
That’s when Toledo stepped in and ask Mitchell to tone it
down. On more than one occasion Toledo hollered or tossed a scowl
in Mitchell’s direction, warning him to stop the
showboating.
“I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t see the harm
in having fun. I’m always going to work hard, but I
don’t understand why you can’t have fun at the same
time,” Mitchell said.
For the most part, Mitchell and Toledo have come to an
understanding about how much fun can be had on the football field.
Every once and a while, though, Mitchell will irk the head
coach.
Like on UCLA media day this year, when he showed up with a black
bandanna and dark shades. “Freddie, take that off,”
Toledo said when he saw his receiver giving interviews through
sunglasses.
Lesson three: humility, because you can lose
“it.”
Just one week after earning the Pac-10’s Offensive Player
of the Week award in his debut, football was gone again. On Sept.
19 Mitchell broke through Houston’s kickoff coverage team for
a huge gain up the right sideline. But just as the defender grabbed
his right leg, the left one landed awkwardly and cracked his femur
in half.
“What’s wrong with my leg?” he shouted,
writhing on the ground in pain.
“I think it’s broken,” said the medical
technician on hand.
“Can I play again?”
“Not this year.”
“I saw him go limp,” UCLA linebacker Billy Pieper
said. “I thought it was a cramp, but then his leg was just
hanging there.”
Talk about frustration. Mitchell, who had accounted for half of
UCLA’s yardage so far that season, was unexpectedly forced
out of action after already missing football for almost two years.
“I didn’t know what to think,” he said.
Two weeks later, Mitchell was already talking about making it
back for the final game of the regular season, about two months
away. Though it took him just three months to come back from an
injury that normally takes six, he didn’t suit up for the
regular season finale. Mitchell did see action in the Rose Bowl
game, throwing a 61-yard pass to fullback Durell Price.
“It was my momma. She sent me some chitlins and healed it
up,” Mitchell said, attributing the quick healing process to
some good home cooking.
The fourth lesson: competition.
“I’ve always been a really competitive person, but
with me and Brian (Poli-Dixon), it’s at a whole different
level,” Mitchell said. “When I see Brian kill a DB, I
feel like “˜Let me show him what I can do.'”
“The competition gets real intense sometimes,”
Poli-Dixon said. “But that only helps things. Just try and
double-team one of us. The other one will tear you
apart.”
Last season, when the disabled parking scandal left much of the
UCLA defense suspended for the first two games of the season,
Mitchell even tried out as a temporary defensive back, impressing
the coaches with his natural cover instincts. “I want the
ball all the time,” Mitchell said.
He should get closer to his wish this year. “Thanks to
(strength) coach Linn, I’ve been getting 150 plays in
practice instead of the 60 I got last year. I want them to use me
till I run out of gas.”
Despite all of Mitchell’s skills, he didn’t have a
single touchdown last season. “That wasn’t his
fault,” said offensive coordinator Al Borges. “He was
open deep plenty of times. We just couldn’t get him the
ball.
“With the drastic improvement in the offensive line, the
results should be amplified this year,” he continued.
“Even though he didn’t have a touchdown he made a lot
of big plays. This year, the big plays will be
touchdowns.”
That won’t be the only thing different for the 2000
season.
“When I got here, I thought the team was a little soft. I
want us to get mean this year; no more pretty-boy image,”
Mitchell said.
One thing that’s not on Mitchell’s mind is the NFL
scouts who will no doubt keep an eye on him this season. He has
already been tabbed, along with Poli-Dixon, as one of the 15
semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the
nation’s top receiver.
That doesn’t matter.
“I love L.A.,” Mitchell said again. “I’m
not going to leave after this year, I’m coming
back.”
After all, “it” thrives in L.A. There is no reason
to leave.