January 11, 2004: One of the most famous short-of-a-touchdown plays in NFL history occurs. The team's fans still like to talk about it. They do not like to talk about the man who made it happen.
Freddie Lee Mitchell Jr. was born on November 28, 1978 in Lakeland, Florida. A receiver, he starred at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in the 1st Round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He was with them for 4 seasons, and they reached the NFC Championship Game in all 4 seasons.
In the NFC Divisional Round on January 11, 2004, the Eagles hosted the Green Bay Packers in the 1st Playoff game at their new Lincoln Financial Field. Ahman Green set a new Packer record with 156 rushing yards in a postseason game. The Packers led 14-0 in the 1st quarter, but the Eagles tied the game. The Packers kicked a field goal to take a 17-14 lead.
With 1:12 left in regulation, and only 1 timeout left, the Eagles faced 4th down and 26 yards to go, on their own 26. Quarterback Donovan McNabb threw to Mitchell, and the play gained 28 yards. The play set up a game-tying 37-yard field goal by David Akers with 5 seconds left.
It's debatable as to which is the bigger 4th down play in Eagles history: 4th & 26, or 4th & 1 twice, the "Groundhog Day Game" against the Dallas Cowboys in 1995. Yes, Eagle fans hate the Cowboys more, but this was in the Playoffs.
In overtime, Brian Dawkins intercepted a pass from Packer quarterback Brett Favre, and returned it 35 yards. With 10:18 left in the 1st overtime, Akers stepped up again, and kicked a 31-yard field goal to win the game, 20-17.
Freddie Mitchell will forever be remembered by Eagle fans for 4th & 26. But he also became known for his ego, epitomized by his self-chosen nickname FredEx (“Because I always deliver”) and his saying, "I just want to thank my hands for being so great," and for his dumb “Fro-hawk” hairstyle.
He did little in the subsequent NFC Championship Game against the Carolina Panthers, and the Eagles lost. He moped over the acquisition of Terrell Owens, which helped the Eagles finally win the NFC Championship for the 1st time in 24 years. But he had a bad performance in Super Bowl XXXIX, catching just 1 pass for 11 yards. He was subsequently released, and never played in the NFL again. Soon, Owens whined his way out of Philly, and the Eagles had neither one.
Mitchell later failed running a barbecue restaurant in Florida, and then served 3 years in prison for tax evasion, which he claims was a result of memory loss due to football contact.
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January 11, 2004 was a Sunday. There was also an AFC Divisional Playoff that day: The Indianapolis Colts beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-31 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Baseball was out of season. There were 5 games in the NBA:
* The Toronto Raptors beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 83-72 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Dallas Mavericks, 115-102 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Houston Rockets, 97-93 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 108-107 in overtime at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Denver Nuggets, 117-106 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.
And there were 7 games in the NHL, with 6 of them going to overtime. This may have been one of the reasons the shootout was added after coming back from the 2004-05 lockout:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at Madison Square Garden. Jassen Cullimore scored the winning goal with 2:57 left in overtime.
* The Washington Capitals beat the Edmonton Oilers, 1-0 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. This was the one game that was won in regulation.
* The Ottawa Senators and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 2-2 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 at the United Center in Chicago. Alex Tanguay scored the winning goal with 1:18 left in overtime.
* The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim played to a tie, 2-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
* The Atlanta Thrashers and the Phoenix Coyotes played to a tie, 1-1 at the Glendale Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. From 1972 to 1996, the Coyotes had been the original Winnipeg Jets. In 2011, the Thrashers moved, becoming the new Winnipeg Jets.
* And the Florida Panthers and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 2-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
