'More Important than Football': Former Super Bowl Champ's Mission Inspiring Students to Read
Listening to Malcolm Mitchell you would never know he had challenges in the classroom.
"I grew up a struggling reader. It was very difficult for me," Mitchell told CBN News.
Like many teenagers in Valdosta, Georgia, Mitchell gravitated to sports, becoming a star football player in high school.
While Mitchell earned a scholarship to play at the University of Georgia, he could only read at a junior high school level. He then realized the need to improve his skills off the field and soon developed a love for reading.
"I saw people doing things that I had never seen before, like study and read and write and use their brain to get the outcome that they wanted. And I immediately started realizing that reading was the most self-empowering tool a person could possess," Mitchell explained.
That newfound confidence led Mitchell to write The Magician's Hat, a book for children.
"Just as I practiced football, I would practice reading, and over time I would get better and better and better," Mitchell said. "And then I learned the consequences of low literacy, and that only inspired me to want to do the same thing for others that books had done for me and that was encouraged them to read. So, The Magician's Hat is a story about a magician teaching kids some magic tricks. But the best trick of all is proving to kids that reading can help you make your dreams come true."
Mitchell's dream came true in 2015. After graduating with a communication studies degree, the New England Patriots drafted him and two years later, the team won the Super Bowl.
That year also had a downside as a knee injury forced him to retire from football. Mitchell used that as an opportunity build on his other love and started a high-energy reading experience for public school students.
That led to a partnership with the New E3 School in Hampton Roads, Virginia, an innovative facility focused on elevating early education.
"We have similar passions, book ownership, making sure kids have the tools and resources to become readers," said Mitchell. "Also trying to inspire and bring awareness to a cause that's very important... What the rallies do in partnership with E-3 is it creates this moment where we celebrate reading to the same degree in which this country celebrates sport."
While the former football player sees winning a Super Bowl ring as a highlight in his life, he credits empowering students as being his greatest success.
"Maybe it made people smile for just a moment, if I caught a pass or scored a touchdown or made a block, but then it's fleeting," Mitchell commented. "Books are permanent, and I was playing football to help me. I started writing to help others. I stand by that statement. I cherish the books much more than I do the ring. Not try to devalue what that means in society, but reading is more important than football, period."
While still in the NFL, Mitchell established the Share the Magic Foundation to transform children's lives through literacy. Since its launch, thousands of children have found a love for reading.
These victories, Mitchell says, have been fueled by his faith.
"My faith has allowed me to persevere in moments where I know I physically as a human being, don't have the psychological strength to prevail, where I deep down want to quit. And I've wanted to quit on numerous occasions, but my faith keeps me in the fight because I know if I hold on long enough, the light at the end of the tunnel will show itself," said Mitchell.
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