NOTABLE ARKANSAS

He was born in 1935 in Hot Springs, where he was a standout at Langston High School in football, basketball, track and baseball — but football was his love. In his junior and senior years, he was named to the Arkansas Colored Athletic Association’s all-state team, and in his senior year, he led the Langston High team to the Negro state football championship. When he graduated in 1954, the Saint Louis Cardinals offered him a baseball contract; instead, he accepted a football scholarship to the University of Illinois. The first time he touched the football in a college game, he ran 64 yards for a touchdown. On the track team, he set an indoor world record in the low hurdles.

His plan, after graduation in 1958, was to train for the 1960 Summer Olympics, but he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns — and the $7,000 he was offered for his rookie season was too much to turn down. He became a highly regarded running back and punt returner, and earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 1960. He still holds the team’s rushing record for a player in his rookie year. In 1962, he was traded to the Washington Redskins, and in his first game, he ran back a 92-yard kickoff return against the Dallas Cowboys. As the first Black athlete to play for the Redskins, he led the NFL in receptions and touchdowns — and was twice named to the All-NFL team. By 1969, when he finally retired to the team’s front office, he had gained more than 14,000 all-purpose yards: rushing, receiving, kickoff returns, punt returns, interception returns, and fumble returns.

In 1983, this football legend from Arkansas was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

Who was this outstanding athlete, whose No. 49 is one of only two numbers ever retired by the Washington football team?

Who was this outstanding athlete, whose No. 49 is one of only two numbers ever retired by the Washington football team?

Bobby Mitchell