With draft approaching, former Pitt teammates Reggie Mitchell, Saleem Brightwell reunite

Saleem Brightwell always felt comfortable asking Reggie Mitchell for guidance.

Didn’t matter where. Didn’t matter when. Didn’t matter how many people were watching.

He did so during a moment of chaos in Clemson’s Death Valley in 2016 when more than 80,000 people were making so much noise that Mitchell, Pitt’s senior safety, couldn’t hear what Brightwell, the redshirt freshman linebacker, was desperately shouting at him.

And he did so in normal tones earlier this year when Brightwell was preparing to embark on a quest to land a spot on an NFL roster and needed someone to represent him.

Now, the two former Pitt teammates are working together again — Mitchell the agent and Brightwell the player — with the NFL Draft coming up in a little more than two weeks.

They were on the field together for one of the most memorable games in Pitt history, the Panthers’ 43-42 upset of eventual national champion Clemson on Nov. 12, 2016. It was a victory that wouldn’t have occurred without Brightwell’s 70-yard interception return of a Deshaun Watson pass in the fourth quarter.

They joke about it today, but for a few seconds — with Pitt trailing, 42-34, and Clemson on the 3 — it was no laughing matter to Brightwell.

He had entered the game only one snap earlier when starting linebacker Mike Caprara came out with an injury.

“I was nervous. I didn’t know what was going on,” Brightwell said. “I looked back, and I couldn’t really hear anything. I turned around and the play’s starting as soon as I turned around.”

At that point, his football instincts took over.

“He didn’t know the call before the play,” Mitchell said. “He’s yelling at me, ‘Reggie, what’s the call? What’s the call? What’s the call?’

“I’m yelling back at him. It’s so loud there, too. Next thing you know, I’m looking up and he’s sprinting down the field with the ball.”

The pick set up a James Conner touchdown run that set up Chris Blewitt’s game-winning field goal.

Mitchell, a Shady Side Academy graduate, went on to earn his MBA from Pitt after he was cut from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie minicamp in 2017. He works in the Dick’s marketing department while running his company, Integrity Sports and Entertainment.

Brightwell became a major part of Pitt’s defense over the next three seasons, finishing with 196 tackles in 49 games (25 starts). He played in all but three games over his four years.

“We stayed connected,” Mitchell said. “A lot of us stay connected with each other, regardless of the positions we played.

“It’s always good to keep in contact, especially once you’re done playing just because you can be that much more helpful to everybody that’s going through the process.”

Mitchell, 25, said he always wanted to become a sports agent, and he became certified last year after passing a rugged test. He also represents Mount Union linebacker Louis Berry, a former teammate at Shady Side Academy.

It hasn’t been easy for players such as Brightwell and Berry, who are candidates to sign as undrafted free agents.

Mitchell said the New York Giants have shown interest in Brightwell, whose invitation to visit the team’s training facility was canceled by the coronavirus shut down. Pitt’s Pro Day also was canceled.

“With Pro Day being canceled, it definitely changed everyone’s expectations,” Mitchell said. “It’s kind of hard to have expectations right now with all the unknowns.

“We’re just staying hopeful that regardless of the situation there’s still opportunity out there.”

Brightwell is handling the setback well. “It was annoying when they canceled the Pro Day,” he said, “just because I put so much work into it.

“It’s cool. I have to find another way. I don’t know about getting drafted, but I know I have a chance, for sure, to get on a team. I know I’ll get a chance, and I just have to prove my worth when I get the chance.”

Because Mitchell went through the process himself three years ago, he understands how difficult it can be to catch the NFL’s attention. He decided he wanted to help.

“I know, myself, going through the process and seeing my teammates go through the process, it’s a crazy industry.

“A lot of the people who are representing these players, whether it be financial advisors, agents, other type of advisors, a lot of them have never actually gone through what it’s like being an athlete.

“They understand the business side of it, but a lot of it, they don’t understand just simply because they were never athletes.

“A lot of times that relationship isn’t as pure and as natural just because they don’t really understand everything that it takes and everything that they sacrifice.

I took it upon myself to say, ‘Hey, I want to be an advocate for these players.’ ”

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