Bo Levi Mitchell

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Not to be confused with Bo Mitchell.

Bo Levi Mitchell
No. 19     Calgary Stampeders
2019, 19, Bo Levi Mitchell.jpg
Mitchell before a Stampeders game in 2019.
Born: (1990-03-03) March 3, 1990 (age 31)
Katy, Texas
Career information
StatusActive
CFL statusAmerican
Position(s)QB
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight198 lb (90 kg)
CollegeEastern Washington
High schoolKaty
NFL draft2012 / Undrafted
HandRight
Career history
As player
2012–presentCalgary Stampeders
Career highlights and awards
CFL All-Star2016, 2018
CFL West All-Star2015, 2016, 2018
Awards
  • 2x CFL Most Outstanding Player Award (2016, 2018)
  • Walter Payton Award (2011)
  • Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year (2011)
Records
  • CFL record for most consecutive wins by a starting quarterback (14)
  • CFL record for best starting record for a first-time quarterback (12 Wins, 1 Loss)
  • CFL record for fastest starting quarterback to 60 wins (72 Starts)
Career stats
Passing completions2,192
Passing attempts3,395
Percentage64.6
TD–INT171-76
Passing yards28,755
CFL Win/Loss Record77-18-2

Bo Levi Mitchell (born March 3, 1990)[1] is a professional Canadian football quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He signed with the Stampeders in 2012 and became the team's starting quarterback for the 2014 season, setting a number of club and league records including best record for a first time starting quarterback in league history (12 wins, 1 loss). He won the 102nd Grey Cup in 2014, the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in 2016 and 2018, and the 106th Grey Cup in 2018. With his second Grey Cup win as starter, he became the first QB to start and win multiple Grey Cup games with the Stampeders organization.

Early years[]

Mitchell graduated from Katy High School in Katy, Texas in 2008. As a senior in 2007, he passed for 2,451 yards and 37 touchdowns with only four interceptions. He led Katy to a 16–0 undefeated season and a state championship. He was named to the Houston Chronicle's Houston Top 110. Mitchell chose to attend SMU over an offer from Hawaii. Mitchell was also recruited by Eastern Washington.[1]

College career[]

SMU[]

Mitchell played two seasons at SMU, starting all 19 of the games he played. In his career, he completed 385-of-676 passes (57.0 percent) for 4,590 yards (241.6 per game) with 36 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. His efficiency rating was 121.8.

As a sophomore in 2009, he started SMU's first seven games before suffering an injury and being replaced by freshman Kyle Padron. Mitchell completed 56 percent of his passes for 1,725 yards, 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, for a passing efficiency rating of 117.9. However, SMU was 3–4 in those seven games before winning five of its last six to finish 8–5.[1]

Eastern Washington[]

As a junior in 2010, Mitchell transferred to Eastern Washington University, which had previously recruited Mitchell out of high school. He helped lead EWU to victory in the FCS Championship Game, a 20–19 come-from-behind victory over the University of Delaware, the school's first national championship in football. He was named the game's Most Outstanding Player after throwing three touchdown passes in the final 16 minutes of the game and had 302 total passing yards in the game as well.[2]

In the 2011 season, Mitchell led the FCS in four statistical categories, including passing yards (4,009) and touchdown passes (33) on his way to breaking four school records. He broke EWU's record for single season passing yards with 4,009, which ranks 17th in FCS history and fifth in Big Sky Conference history. Mitchell went on to win the Walter Payton Award as the best offensive player in the FCS and was also named the 2011 Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Mitchell was also named to seven All-America teams this season, earning first team honors on six of them. He was the top quarterback on teams selected by The Sports Network, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp, Associated Press, Phil Steele Publications and Beyond Sports College Network.[2]

Professional career[]

Calgary Stampeders[]

Mitchell went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft. On April 30, 2012, the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League signed Mitchell to a free agent contract.[3] Mitchell saw limited playing time in the 2012 CFL season, playing as a 3rd-string backup behind Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn and ahead of Brad Sinopoli. He began the 2013 CFL season as the 3rd-string QB. Mitchell came on in the third-quarter after Kevin Glenn left with an injury (Drew Tate was already injured) and helped the Stamps to overcome a 24-point deficit to defeat the Alouettes on July 20, 2013.[4]

In his first CFL start, on July 26, 2013, Mitchell completed 29 of 33 attempts while passing for 376 yards, in a big win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Mitchell won the Gibson's Finest Offensive Player of the Week for this performance. The 2013 season proved to be a breakout season for Mitchell. He played significant time at quarterback in 5 of the games, and appeared in another 7 games. His completion percentage was an impressive 69.6%, throwing for 1,156 yards with 10 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions: a quarterback rating of 111.2.

Mitchell during a game in 2014.

On January 14, 2014, Mitchell signed a contract extension with the Stampeders, which was set to keep him in Calgary through 2016.[5] On June 14, 2014, Mitchell began the 2014 pre season with the Calgary Stampeders. The first week/game he played one quarter and ended the night with 76 passing yards in a 23–20 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. On June 20, 2014 in the second week of pre season against the BC Lions Mitchell threw for 100 yards, 0 TD'S and 2 INT. On June 23, he was named the starting QB for their week 1 game against the Montreal Alouettes. On opening day, Bo Levi Mitchell gave the Calgary Stampeders their first win of the season 29–8 against the Montreal Alouettes. Mitchell had 313 passing yards and 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. On Thursday, July 24, 2014, Bo Levi Mitchell tied Jeff Garcia's CFL record for consecutive career starts, going 7–0, with a 26–22 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos.[6] On November 23, 2014, in his first playoff start, Mitchell led the Stampeders to a victory in the Western Final over division rival Edmonton Eskimos, earning them a berth in the 2014 Grey Cup.[7] He and the Calgary Stampeders would go on to defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 20–16 in the 102nd Grey Cup. Mitchell was named Grey Cup MVP. On March 3, 2015, his 25th birthday, Mitchell signed an extension with the Stampeders to keep him in Calgary through the 2018 season.[8]

In Mitchell's second full season as the Stampeders starting quarterback he posted career highs in many passing categories leading the Stampeders to a 14–4 record, good enough for second place in the West Division behind the Edmonton Eskimos who beat them via a tiebreaker. Mitchell set personal bests in completions, attempts, yards, and touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named a CFL West All-Star. After knocking off the BC Lions in the West Semi-Final the Stamps were eliminated by the Eskimos who would go on to win the 103rd Grey Cup.

Mitchell continued to improve in the 2016 season setting career highs in passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns. Mitchell started in 17 games in the regular season before being rested for the final game of the season after leading the Stamps to a 15–1–1 record, including a 15-game unbeaten streak which set a CFL record for most consecutive wins by a starting quarterback.[9] Mitchell and the Stampeders dismantled the BC Lions in the West Division Final, winning 42–15 and advancing to the Grey Cup in the process.[10] Prior to the Grey Cup game Mitchell was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player.[11] Mitchell and the Stampeders played in three consecutive Grey Cup matches starting in 2016, losing the first two (104th Grey Cup and 105th Grey Cup) before winning the 106th Grey Cup 27-16 over the Ottawa Redblacks. Similar to the 2014 season, Mitchell was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player and Grey Cup Most Valuable Player.[12][13] In 2018 he became the fastest quarterback to 60 wins in CFL history, only taking 72 starts to do so, surpassing Ken Ploen who had previously held the record with 60 wins, with 78 starts.[14] Shortly after winning the Grey Cup Mitchell announced that he would be pursuing NFL opportunities before signing another CFL contract.[15]

Mitchell was set to become a free agent in February 2019, having decided to explore NFL opportunities before re-signing with the Calgary Stampeders organization. He attended his first NFL workout on December 5, 2018 with the Minnesota Vikings,[16] with more than five teams inviting him to a workout and ten inquiring about him in the days and weeks subsequent to his first NFL workout.[17] Mitchell later said he decided he would reject an offer from the Vikings because a team official told him they did not want a quarterback controversy.[18] Mitchell also worked out for the Denver Broncos,[19] Jacksonville Jaguars,[20] Buffalo Bills,[21] New York Giants and Chicago Bears.[22] During the 2019 CFL free agency, Mitchell officially became a free agent and had not yet been signed by an NFL team with CFL teams beginning to offer contracts such as the Toronto Argonauts, the Edmonton Eskimos and the Saskatchewan Roughriders with the minimum contract being offered to Mitchell being rumored around $750,000 per season.[23]

On February 12, 2019, Mitchell re-signed with the Calgary Stampeders, in a four-year deal worth $2.8 million.[24] Mitchell suffered a pectoral injury in Week 3 and was subsequently placed on the six-game injured reserve list.[25] By mid-August Mitchell was appearing to be close to a return, however, he was placed back on the 6-game injured reserve list on August 16, 2019 after suffering a minor setback.[26] He was taken off the 6-game injured reserve list 13 days later, on August 29, 2019 and made his return to the starting lineup that weekend.[27][28] In total he missed seven games during the 2019 season.

Following Calgary's second game of the 2021 season the Stamps placed Mitchell on the six-game injured reserve with a broken fibula.[29]

Career statistics[]

  Passing   Rushing
Year Team Games Started Comp Att Pct Yards TD Int Rating Att Yards Avg Long TD Fumb
2012 CGY 18 0 12 21 57.1 168 2 2 75.1 34 67 2.0 10 5 2
2013 CGY 18 3 94 135 69.6 1,156 10 3 111.2 35 151 4.3 26 2 4
2014 CGY 17 14 264 417 63.3 3,389 22 8 98.3 35 232 6.6 20 4 4
2015 CGY 18 17 364 555 65.6 4,551 26 13 96.8 19 88 4.6 15 3 2
2016 CGY 18 17 412 606 68.0 5,385 32 8 104.5 14 60 4.4 20 0 4
2017 CGY 18 17 349 546 63.9 4,700 23 11 96.9 3 17 5.7 9 0 1
2018 CGY 18 18 356 585 60.9 5,119 35 14 99.6 16 108 6.8 21 0 5
2019 CGY 11 11 274 415 66.0 3,464 19 11 96.1 2 4 2.0 4 0 2
CFL totals 136 97 2,125 3,280 64.8 27,937 169 70 99.8 158 727 4.6 26 14 24

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Official Eastern Washington Eagles bio Archived November 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Bo Levi Mitchell Wins Walter Payton Award
  3. ^ "Stamps sign award-winning QB". Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  4. ^ Mitchell Leads comeback over Alouettes
  5. ^ "Central Figures: Tate, Mitchell extended by Stamps". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  6. ^ "About last night – Friday, July 25, 2014". Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  7. ^ ""Stamps Happy To Get Another Shot In The Grey Cup" (cfl.ca website)". Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  8. ^ "Mitchell Signs through 2018". Canadian Football League. March 3, 2015. Archived from the original on March 6, 2015.
  9. ^ "Week 19 CFL Takeaways: Stampeders right to rest Bo Levi Mitchell – Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  10. ^ "Five things we learned: Stampeders vs. Lions, West Division Final". Calgary Herald. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  11. ^ "Stampeders QB Mitchell named Most Outstanding Player – Article – TSN". TSN. November 24, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  12. ^ "Twice As Nice: Mitchell most outstanding once again - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  13. ^ "2018-11-25 Game Tracker - Ottawa Redblacks vs. Calgary Stampeders (2551) - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  14. ^ "2018-7-12 Mitchell Fastest QB to 60 Wins".
  15. ^ "Stamps' Mitchell on NFL shot: I have to know - TSN.ca". TSN. November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  16. ^ "Mitchell to work out for NFL's Vikings - TSN.ca". TSN. December 4, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  17. ^ Williams, Rob (December 5, 2018). "5 NFL teams are taking a look at signing Stampeders QB Bo Levi Mitchell". Daily Hive. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  18. ^ Florio, Mike (October 4, 2019). "CFL quarterback claims he rejected Vikings offer because they don't want a controversy". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  19. ^ TSN ca Staff (December 12, 2018). "Report: Mitchell works out for Broncos - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  20. ^ TSN ca Staff (December 15, 2018). "QB Mitchell has workout with Jaguars - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  21. ^ "Bills bring in 8 free agents on Tuesday, info on them all". Bills Wire. December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  22. ^ TSN ca Staff (December 19, 2018). "Mitchell adds two more NFL workouts - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  23. ^ SUN, Calgary; Sports; Football; Stampeders, Calgary; Email, Share Hufnagel 'very optimistic' Stamps will re-sign Bo Levi Mitchell Tumblr Pinterest Google Plus Reddit LinkedIn; Tumblr; Pinterest; Plus, Google; Reddit (February 12, 2019). "GM John Hufnagel 'very optimistic' Stamps will re-sign QB Mitchell | Calgary Sun". Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  24. ^ Austin, Daniel (February 12, 2019). "Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell re-signs with Calgary Stampeders". Calgary Sun. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  25. ^ TSN ca Staff (July 5, 2019). "Calgary Stampeders to place quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell on six-game injured list - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  26. ^ Staff, 3Down. "Stampeders put QB Bo Levi Mitchell back on the six-game injured list | 3DownNation". Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  27. ^ Staff, 3Down. "Bo Levi Mitchell removed from six-game injured list, will return to practice with Stamps | 3DownNation". Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  28. ^ Press, The Canadian (September 2, 2019). "Bo Levi Mitchell returns as Calgary Stampeders defeat Edmonton Eskimos in Labour Day game - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  29. ^ TSN ca Staff (August 17, 2021). "Calgary Stampeders Bo Levi Mitchell - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

External links[]

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