NAIA quarterback among the elite

Evangel's Brett Mitchell will play in today's Blue-Gray game.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Brett Mitchell can't get over his good fortune.
He expected to be spending the holidays working and hoping to someday catch the attention of NFL scouts. Then, he was invited to play in the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic today -- on national TV, alongside players from some of college football's powerhouses.
Not bad for a guy from Evangel University, a little Christian school in Springfield, Mo.
"Dream come true"
"I didn't expect anything like this," said Mitchell, a quarterback for the Blue squad. "It was definitely a big thing. I've always watched this game on Christmas day after opening presents. Now I get to be in it.
"This is a dream come true. Now, it's just a chance for me to take advantage of the opportunity and show people that I can play."
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Mitchell passed for 2,741 yards as a senior for the NAIA program, with 21 touchdowns and 19 interceptions to earn second-team All-Heart of America Athletic Conference.
It's not exactly a resum & eacute; that would dazzle some of the Blue-Gray participants from teams like Notre Dame, Penn State or Alabama, who are used to the TV exposure and playing against big-name opponents.
But a college All-Star game where everybody has the same goal is a nice equalizer.
"I don't know how much other guys appreciate this and what they're going to do to take advantage of the game," Mitchell said. "I know one thing for sure: I thank God for the chance they're giving me here and I'm going to be making the most of it."
He's seen plenty of blank stares from other Blue-Gray players when he tells them he played for Evangel.
"Every time somebody says, 'Where are you from?' I tell them and they're like, 'Where's that?' " Mitchell said. "Nobody knows where I'm from."
The other Blue quarterback is Scott Rislov from San Jose State.
Gray quarterbacks
Louisiana Tech's Luke McCown and Jackson State's Robert Kent are the Gray quarterbacks. Kentucky's Jared Lorenzen had accepted an invitation but backed out because of a nagging shoulder injury.
McCown, a four-year starter, is the most well-known of the group, having passed for nearly 13,000 yards in his career with 87 touchdowns.
He's been invited to the Las Vegas and Gridiron classics, but is holding off to see if a Senior Bowl invitation is forthcoming.
McCown has gotten plenty of exposure -- usually in losing efforts against teams like Miami, LSU and Auburn.
"I think everyone knows that I can throw," McCown said. "I'm trying to prove I can make good decisions for an entire game, I can keep my team in position to win. Hopefully once the [NFL] combine gets here, I'll show them that I'm better than what people give me credit for."