Alumni Update: Shirdonya Mitchell
5/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
May. 3, 2005
Davie, Fla. - BY STEVE GORTEN
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
For a player who was a possible fourth- or fifth-round pick less than two months earlier, Missouri cornerback Shirdonya Mitchell had absolutely "no faith" on draft weekend that he would be selected - at all.
He wasn't.
Mitchell signed with the Dolphins as one of 16 free agents, a precarious chance in the NFL for one coach Nick Saban had deemed "definitely draftable on our board."
Mitchell (5-11, 190) ran a 4.34 in the 40 - 4.29 hand-clocked - and benched 225 pounds 17 times in his on-campus pro workout March 3.
At that point, his draft stock was rising.
Minutes later, as he hit the artificial turf inside Devine Pavilion in pain, it plummeted. He had torn the anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments in his right knee trying to cut in a cone drill.
"I was hoping it was something small. Once they said ACL and LCL, I was, like, `Oh, my goodness! That's it. I know I'm not getting drafted,"" Mitchell said Sunday on the third and final day of the Dolphins' first minicamp.
"I never knew anyone that ever got hurt on pro day and did anything after that," said tight end Victor Sesay, Mitchell's teammate at Missouri and another Dolphins free-agent signee.
But this past weekend, the two stayed in rooms across from each other, talking excitedly at nighttime about their chance. "It'd be much better if he was practicing," Sesay said. "But we'll get to that later. ... When he gets better, watch out."
Saban, a former teammate of Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, has the same hunch about Mitchell, whose acquisition he considers "a good risk" that can parlay into "a quality player in the future without using a draft pick."
Saban said Mitchell possesses the critical skills the Dolphins look for in defensive backs - ball judgment, especially deep, and ability to tackle and cover man-to-man.
And Mitchell, a receiver his first two college seasons, could help on special teams - he averaged 22.9 yards as a kick returner.
Now he must continue a four-to-six-month rehab, which could return him to the field in August or September.
"If we have to shelve him for a year, we shelve him for a year, but we have a guy we can work with in the future," Saban said - Mitchell turns 23 in two weeks.
While Mitchell's daughter, Shiriah Chali - he and wife Crystol married in 2001 - is starting to crawl, the rookie is doing the same in the NFL. As much patience as it took to stand on the sideline at minicamp, it takes more to deal with a crying baby, he said.
He's preparing for the season with the same zest as he prepared last October for Shiriah's birth.
"I feel blessed to have an opportunity," Mitchell said. "I'm going to take advantage of it, go out there and make some plays when I can."
