Scott Mitchell hated Bobby Ross so much he considered beaning him in 2000

Former Detroit Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell reunited with two teammates on the YouTube show “Breaking Bread with Herman and Lomas.” The show—which featured yours truly as their first guest… no biggie—is hosted by Lions legends Herman Moore and Lomas Brown.

Mitchell’s episode was interesting, because they addressed the elephant in the room. Back in 2012, Brown said during a live ESPN spot that he purposely missed a block back in 1994 to get Mitchell, who was playing poorly at the time, knocked out of the game. After Brown’s comments, Mitchell fired back, calling Brown’s comments “reprehensible”.

What happened next was odd. After consulting the tape, it turns out Brown’s story was completely false. He misremembered or exaggerated the moment when recalling it on live television.

“I blanked out,” Brown said back at the time. “I started ranting and raving about what I did. … Until I saw the play I actually thought I did it.”

They’ve since buried the hatchet, but the two talked more about the moment on the YouTube show this week. Brown he admitted he put his foot in his mouth, but was appreciative of how Mitchell handled the situation when the two talked behind the scenes.

“The most comforting thing that came out of that was when you and me ended up talking, and you were like, ‘Well, I knew the play that you were talking about and you didn’t do that,’” Brown said. “It was just a great lesson, and that just lets you know who your friends really are.”

Interestingly enough, Mitchell countered with a story of his own, where a moment of weakness nearly led him to do something emotional, as well.

Mitchell, like many Lions players in the late 90s, was not a fan of head coach Bobby Ross. Ross’ no-nonsense style rubbed a lot of veterans the wrong way. Mitchell, especially, had a bone to pick with Ross after the Lions head coach benched him just two games into the 1998 season—which would be Mitchell’s last year in Detroit.

A couple years later, Mitchell had revenge on his mind. It was Week 4 of the 2000 preseason and Mitchell, now with the Bengals, was on the opposite side of Ross’ Detroit Lions. He wasn’t focused on getting ready for the preseason. He wasn’t focused on building chemistry with his new teammates or winning the backup job. He wanted to get back at Ross.

“I had schemed in my head that I was going to, on a certain down, I was going to drop back, and I was going to throw the ball right at Bobby Ross,” Mitchell said. “I’m dead serious about this. I was so mad.”

But when the moment came, Mitchell had cold feet. But looking back on that moment, Mitchell understand why Brown may have felt similarly towards him when the Lions quarterback was struggling that day.

“You go out on the field and you’re busting your butt out there, and if you don’t feel like everyone else is pulling their weight in it, you don’t want them on the field, and I get that” Mitchell said. “I would feel the same way about a teammate and I probably vocally said it to people.”

In the end, it appears to all be water under the bridge. But, man, that would’ve have been something if Mitchell went through with his scheme back in 2000.