High-profile athletes reinvest in hometown

Sunday, November 9, 2008

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Former pro football player Freddie Mitchell now operates a barbeque restaurant in Lakeland.

LAKELAND (Bay News 9) -- A pair of high-profile athletes - who were also teammates in high school - are coming home and bring their money with them.

"It's all about giving back to the community. They help me and I help them," said Freddie Mitchell, a former receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mitchell got his football start at Kathleen High School. Now, after a career in the NFL, he's come home to Lakeland and reinvested some of his money back in his old neighborhood by purchasing Brothers BBQ, a restaurant and catering business.

"You know what? It's home," Mitchell said. "Our slogan is, 'Come on home.' Every time I get a chance to I like to come on home. I have family here and stuff like that, so I'm a home guy."

Players reinvest in hometown

Mitchell's ambitions don't end at running Brothers' BBQ. He also talked about trying to become a country music recording star. If he does that, all he may have to do is walk next door to a recording studio, owned by Chicago Bear tight end Desmond Clark, one of Mitchell's Kathleen High teammates.

While Clark is away playing ball, his brother, Paul, runs the studio for him.

"Well, he wanted to get the recording studio going because in Lakeland, we have a lot of artists that concentrated on music and they didn't have an outlet," Clark said.

While Mitchell may one day see his country music dream come true, for now he's happy running his barbeque restaurant that he hopes to one day turn into a franchise.

The former teammates also work together on youth football camps in northwest Lakeland.