Williston residents describe Quinyon Mitchell in one word: humble.
On Saturday, Williston honored hometown hero Quinyon Mitchell with a parade celebrating his Super Bowl LIX victory with the Philadelphia Eagles. The event began at the Dr. Kenneth A. Schwiebert Pavilion and ended at Cornelius Williams Park, where attendees enjoyed food, music and festivities.
Residents, including Mitchell’s family and friends, wore midnight green jerseys and “Quinyonamo Bay” gear in tribute to his team and nickname. Before his NFL career, Mitchell was just a small-town kid playing football with friends.
His high school teammates CJ Strange and Albert Fuller described him as quiet and focused, letting his work ethic speak for itself.
“He works in silence,” Strange said. “He’s just going to grind. Even though you don’t know he's grinding, he’s grinding regardless.”
Mitchell’s relentless work ethic extended beyond the field, as he and his friends constantly put in extra effort to improve their skills. After finding out the team had made the playoffs during Fuller’s senior year, he recalled how Mitchell and several of their other teammates stayed late after practice to get some extra reps in. This dedication is what led the Eagles to draft Mitchell at 22nd overall in the 2024 NFL draft after four successful seasons at Toledo.
Strange, who was with Mitchell in Detroit for the draft, knew his friend would be selected but still found the moment surreal.
“From diapers to that point, getting his name called and shaking Roger Goodell's hand. It was a surreal moment just being a brother, a friend, and seeing an actual dream come true,” Strange said.
His friends not only speak highly of Mitchell, but Sandra Wise and Dedee McLeod, who knew him during his days at Williston Middle High School, do as well.
“He was the most humble young man you would ever want to meet,” Mcleod said. “If you would’ve asked me, would he be a rookie Super Bowl champion? I’d be like, but he’s so quiet!”
Wise added that despite his success, she knows he will always remember where his roots are.
Like most small towns, Williston is a close-knit community where everybody knows everybody. They protect their own, pick each other up during their lows and celebrate them during their highs. Joseph Crane, a Williston native who attended high school with Mitchell’s father, said that the entire community is very proud.
“To see a kid that you’ve known his family and known him coming up, it’s an awesome sight to see this young man, and now he's a Super Bowl champion,” Crane said.
To honor Mitchell's accomplishment, Williston Mayor Charles Goodwin presented him with the keys to the city. At the ceremony, coach Jim Smith spoke about how hard Mitchell worked to overcome the academic adversity he faced during his senior year of high school to get to where he is today.
In 2018, Mitchell was deemed academically ineligible but made up the classes in 2019. He still had to sit out for six months. During this time, he continued to work hard and eventually signed his national letter of intent with the University of Toledo.
Although Smith helped Mitchell achieve his goals, he believes some of the credit is misplaced.
“I gave him a path to walk to get qualified,” Smith said. “He chose to walk it.”
Mitchell now has a communications degree, and his grandparents, Bill and Linda Mitchell, are very proud that he not only has a football career but an education as well. Linda said that she emphasized three things for Quinyon: the importance of the Church, to respect his elders, and to “be all you can be.” Bill described Quinyon as having a lot of endurance and putting his all into everything he does.
“He’s a great person, and he’ll always be a great person,” Bill Mitchell said. “I look up to him a whole lot.”
The Eagles' player has also become a role model for many in the community. Rick Maguire of Maguire's Auto Repair, like many others, spoke highly of him and called his success something out of a storybook.
“It’s one of those success stories that I could tell my son, ‘Hey, this is what you need to try to be like,’" he said. “I mean that wholeheartedly, 100 percent.”
Mitchell’s father, Quinton, personally invited Maguire to join the parade. Maguire planned to participate regardless but appreciated the gesture.
The parade was not only a celebration of Quinyon, but for Larry and Nancy Wininger, it was an opportunity to help promote the MLK Committee of Williston alongside their youth ambassadors.
“We can promote the community this way and show everybody how great Williston is and what great people come out of Williston,” Wininger said.
Friends, family and even those who don’t know him personally couldn’t say enough kind words about him on Saturday.
“It made me work harder, being overlooked by bigger towns,” Mitchell said. “It kept me rooted, and I’m just thankful to be from Williston.”