DaMarcus Mitchell’s dad said something for the ‘first time’ after his son made the Patriots
The undrafted rookie says his dad had tears in his eyes when he heard the news.
When DaMarcus Mitchell made the Patriots’ 53-man roster, it was a proud moment for the former Purdue standout.
Making an NFL roster is an achievement on its own, and doing it as an undrafted free agent like he did is even harder.
He told ABC 6’s Ian Steele Wednesday that the accomplishment prompted his dad to tell the rookie defensive end he was proud of him for the first time.
“My dad, he never really said ‘I’m proud of you’ or ‘congratulations’,” Mitchell said. “Of course he said when I got to college, but as far as ‘I’m proud of you’, that was his real first time telling me that. And I’m not going to lie, that struck me because my dad never said that.”
Mitchell, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound defensive end from Thibodaux, Louisiana began his college career at Southwest Mississippi Community college before transferring to Purdue.
He made 56 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and five sacks during two years with the Boilermakers.
Mitchell is listed as No. 2 on the Patriots‘ unofficial depth chart behind Deatrich Wise at left defensive end.
The Patriots have had an undrafted free agent make the 53-man roster every year for the past 19 years. Defensive back Brendan Schooler, who carved out a niche on special teams during camp, joins Mitchell as an undrafted free agent on the initial roster.
Past undrafted New England standouts include Randall Gay, Mike Wright, and Brian Hoyer.
“I saw him have tears in his eyes,” Mitchell said. “That took a toll on me. I’m sitting there looking at my dad like, ‘man, I did it, I finally did it’. He’s like, ‘I know you did, I saw it, you’ve got me about to cry.’ I saw him, I saw his eyes watering like, you ain’t got to cry man, you ain’t got to cry.”
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