Mitchell is a Chicago Tribune sports columnist who has written 11 sports books in his 41-year journalism career. During the mid-1960s Mitchell enjoyed a distinguished football career at Wittenberg University. He emerged as one of the nation’s first prominent small-college place-kicking specialists by setting the NCAA “College Division” record for career points scored by a kicker. In 2009, the Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award was founded, in his name, and it has since been presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate place-kicker among more than 750 FCS, Division 2, 3, NAIA & JUCO football programs. In 2013, Mitchell was inducted into the American Football Kicking Hall of Fame. When he isn’t writing, Mitchell is serving others through various civic engagements.