You Almost Never Heard The Name

This is something I haven't thought about in a real long time. But, a thread on We Must Ignite This Couch about "your favorite all time Mountaineer" made me think about how close Stewart Mitchell came to being the starting quarterback for WVU. I mean no disrespect to Major Harris, but if it was not for the pot holes at Cabell Field in Charleston, WV, you might not know who he his.
In the spring of 1987, there was not a clear starting quarterback going into the next season. The starter would be decided in the fall camp between Stewart Mitchell and Major Harris. Both were redshirt freshman. Stewart came home to Charleston for the summer, and was working out at Cabell field when he stepped into one of the many pot holes on the field and blew his knee out so bad that he was never able to come back. And by process of elimination, a college football star was born.
I had the privilege of playing with Stewart. I was a sophomore his senior year at Stonewall Jackson. He was a quality person, as were most of the seniors on that team. The one thing I will never forget about him is the sound of the football when he threw it to you. It came in so hard, it sounded like death, if there is such a thing.
Stewart was a big guy 6-4, probably 220 lbs (that was big for a quarterback in the mid-80's). He could have played basketball in college if he wanted to. I remember seeing an article in the Charleston newspaper about him roughly 10 years ago. He moved to North Carolina, I believe. There is an all-class reunion for Stonewall this summer. Hopefully, he will be there.....