RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — BREAKING DOWN BRAYLON MITCHELL,784 number of yards last year20 touchdowns2 jersey number11 number of Mitchell's siblings6-2 Mitchell's height
225 Mitchell's weightIt didn't matter that it was in Heber Springs, where the air up there is just a little cooler than down in the valley.
On that July morning it was already hot, and a number of Braylon Mitchell's
teammates were getting re-acquainted with the
Egg McMu◊n they'd had for breakfast.
Mitchell stood out as a physical specimen,the same way Darren McFadden used to. Big.
Strong. Fast.
◊at didn't matter when, while running
through plays on defense, he bit on a screen pat
tern, leaving a receiver open up the middle.
"Braylon!"◊e energetic, this-time disapproving voice
of Steve Janski got everyone's attention. He
didn't have to say much to his star running
back/linebacker, just a few words of correc
tion of how to recognize a receiver's route and
adjust position accordingly. Mitchell, all 6 feet,
2 inches and 225 pounds of raw strength, grit
and drive, o◊ered no argument. He dropped his
head for a moment, said "Yes sir," then lined up
again, determined not to make the same mis
take twice.
And he didn't.
Listening to Janski throughout the rest of thepractice, there was no coddle in his voice when he addressed Mitchell. And Mitchell wouldn't be one of the top high school players in the state without his coach spurring him, he said.
"He pushes me to bigger and better things," Mitchell said of Janski, whom he described as a father◊gure.
Janski said when Mitchell◊rst moved to Heber Springs from North Little Rock when Mitchell was in junior high, the coach wasn't sure how the young man would adapt.
"At◊rst I didn't know if he'd be able to survive in our program," Janski said. "We're pretty tough. Once he got that, I knew he had some talent."But the relationship between Janski and
Mitchell has not been one of exclusively
tough love.◊e two get along well and are
able to have fun away from the◊eld.
"He invited me to his home," Mitchell
said, speaking of when he◊rst moved to He
ber Springs.
It's hard not to like Mitchell. A more po
lite kid you'll never meet, and he's got a smile
and laugh bigger than Greers Ferry Dam.
Mitchell's a con◊dent guy, but he keeps
things in perspective. Janski's been sure to
help him do that.
"I've told him with all this hype and all
this attention he's getting (from media and
college recruiters), he needs to stay humble,"
Janski said. "Second, he needs to expect to
have a bull's-eye on his chest." Mitchell's taken the lesson to heart. Ask
him about his stats, and it's not that he doesn't
know them, but he'd much rather talk in "we"
terms instead of "I." Mitchell credits his teammates not only
for his success on the◊eld, but also for
helping him feel at home in Heber Springs.
Mitchell grew up living with his father,
Boyce, in North Little Rock. He moved to
Heber Springs to live with his mom, Pamela
Norris, and his stepdad, Mike Norris. Mitch
ell called his mom "a beautiful lady" and said
he loves her cooking.
◊e move was good for Mitchell. In addi
tion to growing closer to another side of his
family, he said he's glad now that he's gotten to
spend his high school days going to the lake
and hanging out in his teammates' kitchens
rather than being surrounded by a big city.
"In Little Rock I would have had way more
distractions than I have up here," he said.
Family's a big part of Mitchell's life. He's
the second-youngest of 12 siblings and has
a twin sister, Brittney. Most of his older sib
lings are brothers, he said, and most played
football, two at the collegiate level at the Uni
versity of Arkansas at Pine Blu◊. Mitchell's
father and stepfather both played football,
too. Mitchell's biggest sports pedigree comes
from his cousin, former Razorback and NBA
star Corliss Williamson.
Mitchell said he and Williamson aren't
close, but that he's talked with him a few
times and gotten advice on how to pursue his
dream.
◊ough Mitchell hadn't spent much time
with his mom when he was younger, Mitch
ell had an instant family a◊er making the
move to Cleburne County. And as quickly
as his family welcomed him, the community
opened up, too.
When asked about being one of only a
handful of black players on the team and liv
ing in a predominantly white town, Mitchell
said he doesn't think twice about it.
"Here, we put race aside," he said. "◊e
whole town really accepted me as I was." He admitted that when the Panthers suit
up against teams with predominantly black
rosters, he feels some pressure to perform.
"Especially when we play Marianna and
Lonoke, I feel like I need to step up," he said.
Comparing Mitchell to one of his child
hood heroes, Darren McFadden, is easy.
While McFadden was a little faster, Mitchell
might be a little stronger, but both run with a
desire to punish the opposition in a particu
larly physical and unpleasant fashion.
Mitchell will follow in D-Mac's footsteps
when he joins the Arkansas Razorbacks next
fall. Playing at the University of Arkansas is
a dream come true for Mitchell, who said he
was fully hooked when he attended a Razor
back game during his ninth-grade year.
"I saw Mac break one, and I said, 'Dang,
that's got to be me some day,'" Mitchell said.
Being a big-name recruit has given him
big-man-on-campus status, but it's not sepa
rated him from his teammates.
"◊ey support me big," he said. "I've got
40 brothers to fall back on." Mitchell said that his teammates have
even had some fun at his expense when they
beat him in drills during practice.
"I just beat a D-I recruit," they've said.
He takes the ribbing in good fun. He knows without the guys around him, he wouldn't be able to do the things he's done. He mentioned how much he enjoyed playing with Frazier Blankenship, who graduated in May and is now playing football at West Point.
"I'm going to miss Frazier," Mitchell said.
"I used to jump on his back and ride to the end zone."◊e motto of the Panthers is "one team, one heartbeat." While Mitchell said he'd like to top 2,000 yards this year (he tallied just shy of 1,800 last year), his ultimate goal is all about his Panther brethren.
"My main goal is to get my team to War Memorial [for a state championship]," he said.
◊is year it's his back the Panthers will ride on.
Special, Pages 226, 227 on 08/23/2009