Pre-draft Mitchell wasn't invited to the
NFL Combine, but performed at Ohio's
Pro Day and was said to have had an impressive showing and one of the best pro days of any player in the 2009 NFL Draft. He ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash and he did 22 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press to go along with a 37½-inch vertical and a 10-foot, 3-inch broad jump. Mitchell met with upwards of 15 NFL teams throughout the draft process.
Oakland Raiders 2009 NFL draft The
Oakland Raiders selected Mitchell in the second round (47th overall) of the
2009 NFL draft. He was the fourth safety selected in that draft. The Oakland Raiders' selection of Mitchell was highly scrutinized by the analysts and drew an uproar among fans at
Radio City Music Hall. NFL analyst
Mike Mayock graded him in the seventh round and Mel Kiper Jr. stated that the Raiders could've possibly signed him as an
undrafted free agent. His selection echoed
Al Davis' pattern of selecting players who are the fastest and typically have performed well at the
40-yard dash. In the first round (7th overall), the Raiders selected wide receiver
Darrius Heyward-Bey, who had run the fastest 40-yard dash among all the receivers at the NFL combine. Later, it was reported that Mitchell was possibly being targeted by the
Chicago Bears (selecting at 49—two spots behind the Raiders). Mitchell has stated that the Bears had called him around the 40th overall pick and told him to "stay close to the phone."
Chicago Bears' General Manager
Jerry Angelo said that after both Mike Mitchell and
Brian Robiskie were selected before they could select them, they opted to trade out of the round. Mayock later apologized to the Raiders for Mitchell's low draft grade.
Mel Kiper Jr. later gave it "Most Likely To Make The Raiders Look Good Award", stating "Oakland took Michael Mitchell, OK?" "I asked teams after the draft. The misnomer is it's all Mel Kiper's opinion, it's all
Todd McShay. You have to ask other teams. We're not the end-all, be-all. Some said they had him as a free agent. One team told me they had Michael Mitchell in the third round. They had him as a Pro Bowler. They think it's a great pick by the Oakland Raiders. So Oakland wasn't the only team out on the island that saw something in that kid." “He’s a second-round pick. I’m happy for him. I had him between 40 and 73 at safety, with a seventh-round grade,” -Mel Kiper Jr. Mitchell was the highest Ohio player to be drafted since Gene Ruskowski's fifth-round selection (44th overall) by the
Los Angeles Rams in
1948. The last time an Ohio student-athlete was selected in a higher round was the Bobcats' only first-round selection,
Art Lewis (ninth overall) in
1936 by the
New York Giants.
2009 On July 29, 2009, the Oakland Raiders signed Mitchell to a four-year, $3.77 million contract that included $2.03 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.61 million. He began training camp competing with veteran
Michael Huff for vacant strong safety job left by the departure of
Gibril Wilson. Head coach
Tom Cable named Mitchell the backup strong safety to
Tyvon Branch who won the job after emerging as the top option in training camp. He made his professional regular season debut in the Oakland Raiders' season-opener against the
San Diego Chargers and made one tackle in the 20–24 loss. On September 27, 2009, Mitchell recorded a season-high three solo tackles in a 3–23 loss to the
Denver Broncos. On December 13, 2009, he earned a tackle and made his first career sack on
Redskins' quarterback
Jason Campbell during a 13–34 loss. He finished his rookie season with 16 combined tackles (11 solo) in 16 games and had zero starts.
2010 Mitchell competed with Tyvon Branch and rookie
Stevie Brown for the starting role as the strong safety, but was eventually named the backup to Branch to start the season. On September 26, 2010, he earned his first career start and made two combined tackles in a 23–24 loss to the
Arizona Cardinals. During a Week 9 matchup against the
Kansas City Chiefs, Mitchell finished the 23–20 victory with a season-high seven combined tackles. On December 12, 2010, he intercepted his first career pass from
Jaguars' quarterback
David Garrard and made two solo tackles during the Raiders' 31–38 loss. He finished his second season in the NFL with 51 total tackles, five pass deflections, and an interception in three starts and 16 games. Mitchell wasn't able to appear in the first three games of the season after suffering a knee injury. He returned in Week 4 and made one tackle and sacked
New England Patriots' quarterback
Tom Brady, as the Raiders lost, 19–31. On October 23, 2011, Mitchell made a season-high five solo tackles during the Raiders' 0–28 loss to the
Kansas City Chiefs. During a Week 12 matchup against the
Chicago Bears, Mitchell earned his first start of the season and recorded two tackles in a 25–20 win. On December 11, 2011, Mitchell made his third consecutive start of the season against the
Green Bay Packers and intercepted a pass from
Aaron Rodgers while making four solo tackles during the Raiders' 16–46 loss. He finished 2011 with a total of 31 combined tackles (22 solo), five pass deflections, an interception, and one sack in 13 games and four starts. The
Oakland Raiders did not qualify for a playoff berth after finishing 8-8 and head coach Hue Jackson was fired by
Mark Davis at the end of the season.
2012 Mitchell remained the backup strong safety to Tyvon Branch under head coach
Dennis Allen to begin the season. This marked Mitchell's third different head coach in four seasons. On November 18, 2012, Mitchell started his first game of the season against the
New Orleans Saints and finished the 17–38 loss with a career-high 11 tackles. During a Week 14 contest against the
Denver Broncos, he earned six solo tackles and sacked
Peyton Manning, as the Raiders lost, 13–26. He finished his final season with the Raiders with 41 combined tackles (32 solo) and one sack while starting two games and playing in all 16. He competed with
Charles Godfrey,
D. J. Campbell, and
Anderson Russell throughout
training camp for the job as the starting strong safety. Head coach
Ron Rivera named him the backup to Charles Godfrey to start the season. He played in his first game during a Week 2 match-up against the
Buffalo Bills after Godfrey suffered a season-ending injury and made three solo tackles in his place. The following week, he earned his first start during a 38–0 victory over the
New York Giants and made two tackles. During a Week 6 match-up against the
Minnesota Vikings, he made seven total tackles and intercepted Vikings' quarterback
Matt Cassel two times, returning them for 62-yards. The following game, he made a season-high eight solo tackles in a victory over the
St. Louis Rams. In his only season with the Panthers, he had a career season, making a career-high 3.5 sacks, career-high two forced fumbles, and a career-high four interceptions His play contributed to a season where the defense was ranked second in the NFL in total yards, rushing yards, and points, and helped the team win a division title and playoff berth for the first time in five years. Mitchell finished the season with a total of 66 combined tackles and a career-high 8 pass deflections. Entering training camp, he was the expected starting free safety, replacing
Ryan Clark, who left for the Washington Redskins during the off-season. He started the season opener against the
Cleveland Browns and made a season-high 7 combined tackles. During a Week 7 contest against the
Houston Texans, he recorded a season-high six solo tackles. On October 25, 2012, he was fined $7,875 for taunting during a victory over the St. Louis Rams. After starting all 16 regular-season games, he finished with a total of 71 combined tackles and 3 pass deflections.
2015 The following season, he returned as the Steelers' starting strong safety under new defensive coordinator
Keith Butler. On October 12, 2015, he made a season-high 7 solo tackles in a victory over the
San Diego Chargers. Four days later, he was fined $8,681 for an unnecessary roughness penalty against Chargers' tight end
Antonio Gates during the game. During a Week 17 matchup against the
Cleveland Browns, Mitchell recorded seven solo tackles in a 27–24 victory. He finished the season with 77 combined tackles (55 solo), nine pass deflections, and an interception in 16 games and 16 starts.
2017 On October 15, 2017, Mitchell made three combined tackles in a 19–13 victory over the
Kansas City Chiefs. During the game, he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on running back
Charcandrick West that caused a concussion and placed West in the
concussion protocol. Mitchell was later involved in another controversial hit when he delivered a low tackle to the back of quarterback
Alex Smith's legs, well after the ball was thrown. Mitchell received widespread criticism from fans that deemed it "as dirty as it gets", "unnecessary", "egregiousness", and Smith later commented that it was, "as flagrant as it gets". On October 19, 2017, he was fined by the league for both hits: $48,620 for the hit on West and $9,115 for the low tackle on Smith. Mitchell's explanation for the hit on Smith was he felt like he was pushed or tripped and was falling and that Smith was also back-pedaling. On March 14, 2018, Mitchell was released by the Steelers.
Indianapolis Colts in November 2018. Mitchell signed with the
Indianapolis Colts on October 9, 2018. In his second game with the team in Week 7, he recorded seven tackles, one interception, and two passes defensed in a 37–5 win over the
Buffalo Bills, earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week. In the wild card round of the playoffs against the
Houston Texans, Mitchell suffered a calf strain and was placed on injured reserve on January 9, 2019. ==NFL career statistics==