FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas quarterback Brandon Mitchell owns two motorcycles.
He got the first, a Suzuki Booster, when he was in high school. The second, a Kawasaki ZX1200, he inherited from his late uncle.
The junior, who is competing with redshirt freshman Brandon Allen for the second-team quarterback spot this spring, said riding has been one of his hobbies since he was young.
“You just get the thrill of riding,” Mitchell said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s good to have another getaway other than playing football.”
It’s an interest that has taken center stage this week after Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino suffered multiple injuries — including four broken ribs and a broken or cracked C-2 vertebrae in his neck — after a motorcycle crash Sunday night. The coach said he was “very fortunate” to be alive after running off the road on Highway 16 in Madison County.
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Mitchell is proof Petrino isn’t the only motorcycle enthusiast who is part of the football program. A few other Razorbacks ride, too. Mitchell said running back Knile Davis — who has been mentioned as a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate — rides. So does former Arkansas wide receiver Joe Adams.
While it was surprising to hear about Petrino’s accident Monday morning, Mitchell said it comes with the territory. Experienced motorcycle riders understand crashes are a distinct possibility and accept the risk.
“That just comes with anything, especially up here in Arkansas,” Mitchell said of Petrino’s accident. “It’s a lot different because the wind blows real hard up here. So it’s something you have to be really wary of.”
Petrino said Arkansas football doesn’t have a policy in place for players regarding the use of motorcycles, although he is aware some of his players ride. He also estimated as much as 60 percent of the Razorbacks own motorized scooters to traverse the hills around campus.
“I talk to them all the time. … It’s something worth talking about,” Petrino said.
Mitchell said he has had his motorcycles with him since arriving on campus a few years ago, but didn’t start riding them around town until last season. He first asked former offensive coordinator Garrick McGee if he could start riding. McGee didn’t want him to at first.
“Coach P and everybody was OK with it,” Mitchell said. “Me and Knile ended up getting on them. We had a couple of guys that had one. Joe Adams had one. We all ride together just to have fun and just riding around time.”
There are no motorcycle helmet laws for adults over the age of 21 in Arkansas. So players of age aren’t required to wear one.
Mitchell — who has never been in a significant motorcycle accident — admitted he doesn’t always put one on. He couldn’t say he always will now, either, even after Petrino characterized his own decision to ride without a helmet as a “bad call” Tuesday afternoon.
“You don’t really think about it,” said Mitchell, who added he does obey the helmet law in his home state of Louisiana. “It’s just kind of how you feel at the time. If it’s real windy outside you want to wear a helmet. If it’s not, then you don’t. That’s the whole point of being on a bike, just being outside.”
It’s Mitchell’s choice, but one Arkansas tight end Chris Gragg doesn’t agree with.
Gragg’s father rides a motorcycle, but he doesn’t and probably never will. There’s a good reason: Gragg said his uncle was killed in a motorcycle accident when he was young.
Gragg said he doesn’t try to pull teammates off their motorcycles. He just wants them safe.
“I’ve always been a proponent of not riding a motorcycle,” Gragg said. “I have a scooter, but I always wear my helmet. That’s the thing I always preach: always wear your helmet.”
It’s a lesson Petrino learned the hard way as he recovers from multiple injuries this week.
“I think you really have to know what you’re doing, really know the way of the bike,” Petrino said Tuesday. “I thought I did, but obviously made a mistake when I was driving. “I will wear a helmet from now on.”