Written by Annie Miller
Photo courtesy of the Dallas Cowboys

Aaron Mitchell was either a late bloomer, or he simply went unnoticed. The 6-foot-1-inch cornerback never received the honors that most NFL draftees earn during their college years. In Mitchell’s two seasons at College of the Canyons, he was never even given an all-conference award.

It was not until his senior year at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, that some began to finally take notice. Mitchell caught the eyes of NFL scouts from the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, and the Washington Redskins.

With his attention-grabbing 4.54 second 40-yard dash, Mitchell was selected as the 55th overall pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1979 NFL Draft. The one-time, award-less Cougar became the first player from College of the Canyons to ever be drafted by an NFL team.

The unheralded athlete boasts the top spot on the list of NFL draftees from COC, including this year’s 15th pick of the first round by the New York Giants Jason Pierre Paul. Regardless of how easy or difficult each player’s road to success was, the first steppingstone was College of the Canyons.

When Mitchell came to College of the Canyons as a freshman in 1975, he played under the direction of head coach Larry Reisbig. He remembers both Reisbig and defensive coordinator John McClung as, “excellent coaches, who emphasized aggressiveness, team play, and focus. Both of them were very good men. It was a pleasure playing for them.”

The 1975 Cougars ranked 18th in the state, and finished the season as Western State Conference co-champs, with a record of 6-4. While there were 11 all-conference awards handed out that year, Mitchell did not even receive an honorable mention.

In 1976 the Cougars finished with an overall record of 2-7—the worst in COC football history, but Mitchell’s athletic ability and potential shined through. Lack of numbers and awards would not stop him from moving on to the next level.

After two seasons as a Cougar, Mitchell was recruited to play for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he garnered enough attention to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys.

“As a kid, even though I grew up in Los Angeles, there was something about that star on the side of the helmet,” recalls Mitchell. “I always was a Cowboys fan.”

In Dallas, Mitchell had the opportunity to play for legendary, Hall-of-Fame coach Tom Landry, and took the field with players like Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Randy White, and Drew Pearson.

“I had the opportunity to not only be drafted by the Cowboys, but also to play for Coach Landry—a legend—and to play where football was a science. It really was a blessing come true,” Mitchell reveals.

While the corner attests that, “It was with the Cowboys that I really learned football,” in 1981, after two seasons with Dallas, the COC alum had to swap in his number 34 navy blue jersey for number 45 in orange. The defensive back was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Playing in 13 games with Tampa Bay, Mitchell shared the field with players such as Doug Williams, LeRoy Selmon, Hugh Green, and Jerry Eckwood.

"That Tampa Bay football club was one doggone good team," he raves.

After his career in the NFL ended, Mitchell did not stop playing. From 1983 to 1984 he was a part of the United States Football League, playing for the Arizona Wranglers in 1983 and for the Los Angeles Express in 1984. He remembered the Los Angeles Express team as having “about as much talent as the team I played with on the Cowboys.”

By the time his football career was over, Mitchell was just 28-years-old. However, because of his preparation in college, he easily made a career for himself in the financial service business, and has been working in the field ever since.

Having once been in the same place as young college and junior college players today, Mitchell urges them to “Stay balanced. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, because your expectation gets so high that the fall, if you don’t make it, is that much greater.”

Mitchell also encourages young draft hopefuls to be smart with their cash. With players today becoming instant millionaires, it is important to “really understand financial services and businesses. When you are not in tune to how money and economics work, you are exposing yourself to a lot of volatility.”

“A lot of the young guys now believe that if they cannot see it, feel it, touch it, taste it, or show it off, it isn’t real,” explains the NFL veteran. “Having three or four cars doesn’t have long-lasting value.”

Since the very first season of Cougar football in 1970, College of the Canyons has been known to be one of the most dominant community colleges in California and the nation. For more than 40 years, many Cougars have played in the NFL. But the very first was Aaron Mitchell. The local cornerback from North Hollywood High School goes down in history as the first player to ever represent College of the Canyons on the biggest stage possible.