Malcolm Mitchell: Dual Threat
From catching passes on the field to turning pages in the classroom.
Malcolm Mitchell is a man with many talents. He is a star on the field and an inspiration to thousands off the field. He is best known for his college and professional football talents. However, the story of how he became a better reader and the obstacles he had to overcome to get his book published are his most impressive achievements.
For those who do not know Malcolm Mitchell, he is from the small town of Valdosta, which is located in south Georgia. This is where he learned to play football and was considered talented enough to play for the University of Georgia. In his first year at the University of Georgia, he earned a spot as one of the few Freshman All SEC players at the wide-receiver position. This is an amazing award to receive in football due to the sheer volume of talented candidates. The following season he extended his talents on the field by becoming a two-sided player and learning to play cornerback. This led him to his second award, the Charli Tripp versatile player award. However, much like all heroes, they fail from time to time. In his junior year, Malcolm redshirted after being injured in the first game of the season against Clemson. He came back the next year to finish out his junior season, but played only eight games and made three starts. In his senior year, he was awarded the position of being an offensive captain and started all thirteen games. He then graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism while maintaining a last semester GPA of a 4.0. Much like all graduating football players, he entered the NFL draft. After waiting three and a half rounds, he went 112th overall to the New England Patriots where he later played in the super bowl and assisted the team in taking home a championship ring. He displayed his dynamic abilities as a football player while maintaining a leadership role on the team.
His abilities on the football field provided him with a way to pursue a more important part of his life. When he began to attend UGA he was insecure with his reading abilities. He then began to teach himself how to read fluently and at a higher level. This is truly inspiring to other students who come from similar backgrounds. He has been featured in numerous magazines and web articles for his dedication and diligence to higher learning. The attention he received truly spiked when he wrote his first and only book thus far, “The Magician’s Hat”. He wrote this children’s book to inspire and teach children the importance of reading. What is truly amazing about him becoming an author is that when he entered college he could only read on a junior high level. This caused him to struggle academically, so he began to read all the time creating a strong base of knowledge on how to study and retain what he read. As he stated in his interview with Sports Illustrated for Kids, “I was probably reading at a middle school level, and it was becoming a problem,” Mitchell says. “Playing football in front of 92,000 fans every Saturday seemed easy, but I dreaded reading aloud in front of anyone, so I wanted to become more well-read for myself”. This became the basis for creating his foundation called “Read with Malcolm”. This is a co-affiliate foundation with the “Support the Magic foundation”. Both organizations are driven to teach children the importance of reading. His view of reading is clear by the statement,“You can accomplish whatever goal you can visualize for yourself. Every time you open up a book and you flip a page you get a step closer” (Berg). In his early stages of reading, he even joined a womens book club to help make sure he kept reading. Much like he is an inspiration to numerous children, these women inspired him to become a better reader by providing him with book options and supported his efforts in promoting reading among youth. According to Mitchell, “Reading has opened the doors for so many opportunities that I would have never foreseen happening in my life. There are endless possibilities. It is possible to reach your full potential. It absolutely takes place when you pick up a book and read”. His true passion when he left the University of Georgia was not football, which was what he came there so long ago to play but was his ability to be more literate. This achievement positively influenced his life in many aspects.
Malcolm Mitchell is extremely talented on and off the field. He ranges from catching passes to writing pages. This makes him a major dual threat in both intelligence and athletic ability. He shows dedication and a will to achieve a goal that he cares for. This goes to prove once again that he is truly a good mark of character and an inspiration to thousands.
