The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1404875
62 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2021 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? He was out on the field, going crazy. Everybody was going absolutely nuts. "More than anything else, it was that play — the Phantom Touchdown. Years later, I saw Charles at a golf out- ing. He said, 'Yeah, I got away with one that time, didn't I?'" Mitchell wound up with five catches for 101 yards and a touchdown on a team that didn't throw much by to- day's standards. He might have antici- pated a normal progression to a bigger role in 1979, but an incoming freshman threatened all that. His name: Anthony Carter. "Bo kept telling me, 'This kid's go- ing to come in and play, Mitchell, if you're not ready.' I did everything to get ready, but you can't keep talent down," Mitchell recounted. "I'm not saying I wasn't talented, but Anthony was special. It was fantastic to play with him." Mitchell did make seven catches for 90 yards that season, but Carter found himself targeted, and senior Ralph Clayton was on his way to becoming a second-round pick in the NFL Draft. "I did contribute, but had to focus more on being a team player and a leader, doing what I had to do to keep my feet on the football field," Mitchell said. Meanwhile, the Wolverines slid back to 8-4, losing heartbreakers in their fi- nal three games: Purdue (24-21), Ohio State (18-15) and North Carolina (17-15 in the Gator Bowl). Lawrence Taylor destroyed Wan- gler's knee in the bowl game, but the devastating injury might have pro- vided some glue in the breakthrough season of 1980. "We weren't as talented as the '79 team, when it comes to overall talent," Mitchell noted. "But man oh man, we were probably, in my four years, the most cohesive team I've ever played on in the history of my sports life. "Lawrence Taylor snatched John Wangler's knee out of socket. Wangs' career is over. Right? He worked his ass off to get back on that football field. That kind of set the tone of expectation. "When he came out there and bat- tled for the starting position, everyone else was like, 'Damn!' They'd called his career over. Taylor snatched his knee out of whack, and he's back!" So were the Wolverines, despite dev- astating losses early at Notre Dame (29-27) and home against South Caro- lina (17-14). The former featured kicker Harry Oliver 's game-winning field goal when the wind miraculously died at Notre Dame Stadium. That game added fuel to Michigan's fire, especially the way a captain re- acted. On the return flight from South Bend, Mitchell recalled defender Andy Cannavino tumbling out of his seat onto the floor of the plane, dehydrated and overheated. Flight attendants rushed to cover him in ice packs, while a teammate gave him water. "He played so hard," Mitchell said. "He almost died." "Tuesday, when we went full pads, guess who was on the field? Andy Cannavino. We were like, 'Man, what are you doin'?' He said, 'Come on, let's go! We're going to win this thing!' He was one of our captains." Michigan won its final nine games, taking down Ohio State (9-3) in Co- lumbus and Washington (23-6) for Schembechler's first Rose Bowl win. "In the Rose Bowl, Butch [Woolfolk] was running through holes," Mitchell marveled. "Go back and look at it. My mom could have gained 100 yards in that game. "Yours truly had two nice catches. It was a pretty amazing season, and that game was beautiful, man!" Mitchell views his career the same way. He's nearing retirement after a varied career in business, but he learned about success long before, in a winged helmet. ❏ The Alan Mitchell File Michigan Accomplishments: Played on three Big Ten championship teams in four years, going 3-1 against Ohio State … Performed on Bo Schembechler's first victorious Rose Bowl team as a senior … Caught 26 passes for 439 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolverines. Professional Accomplishments: After injuries cut short NFL tryouts with San Francisco and Seattle, Mitchell became a Ford Motor Co. dealer liaison … He later worked in various business relationships with Kraft, Sara Lee and Coca Cola … He performed consulting work with CVS and Ebay before owning a rubber manufactur- ing company that supplies parts for athletic fields. Michigan Memory: "What I remember most, regardless of whether we won or lost, was the locker room after the game. That was the time you really had an opportunity to know your teammate. "The sadness, the happiness — seeing guys cry their eyes out over losing a football game? It seems senseless. Why would you cry over losing? But you know and I know what a team takes to win. That's why you cry when you lose. And when you win, the exuberance and the happiness and the joy and the relief? You're seeing that, too. "My memory is that locker room after the game. It's the emotion that culminated from every other part of the season." Education: Earned a bachelor's degree in education with an emphasis on business communications in the spring of 1981. Family: Married 35 years to wife Shoba, and the two have three children: daughter Tierra, 34, son Brendan, 33, and daughter Rekha, 28. Mitchell (top left) — pictured with (back row, from left to right) son Brendan, daughter Rekha Mitchell-Discenna and her husband Dr. Alex Discenna, and (front row from left to right) wife Shoba Mitchell, daughter-in-law Kelly Mitchell, grandson Kendall Mitchell-Moore and daughter Tierra Mitchell-Moore — played on three Big Ten championship teams in four years, going 3-1 against Ohio State. PHOTO COURTESY ALAN MITCHELL