AD Mitchell simply wanted to start celebrating what would have been one of the plays of the year in the NFL so far.
But the Indianapolis Colts wide receiver started the celebrating a split second too early on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. The former Texas and Georgia star had the best of intentions on the third-quarter play that would have given the Colts a 17-13 lead in the Week 4 road battle.
That was what looked to have happened when Indianapolis quarterback Daniel Jones dropped back from his own 24-yard line and found Mitchell just beyond midfield. The 2nd-year wideout who was a 2nd-round pick of the Colts in 2024 made the spectacular catch, spun around and juked a few Rams defenders before streaking down the left sideline to what seemed like a scintillating run after the catch.
The touchdown with 11:32 left in the third quarter was going to give the Colts that lead after they trailed 13-10 at halftime. It was also going to be on all of the highlight shows on Sunday night and beyond. The only problem was that it wasn’t a touchdown, and it was going to be on all of the highlight shows for all the wrong reasons. The FOX announcers immediately picked up on the fact that Mitchell accidentally fumbled the ball away in celebration when he was at the Rams’ 1-yard line.
Just a tad too early and not a touchdown. Here’s a clip:
It was a most unfortunate thing to happen to the former Longhorn and Bulldog, who spent 2 years at Georgia in 2021 and 2022 before transferring to Texas in 2023. Mitchell was on both of Georgia’s back-to-back national championship teams.
Mitchell probably won’t forget that play for as long as his NFL career lasts, and it’ll likely provide some hard lessons about waiting until you’re in the end zone to start celebrating.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
