MACON, Ga. — Author, poet and NFL Superbowl Champion Malcolm Mitchell spoke to some students in the Bibb County School District about learning – and reading.
Mitchell spoke to students at Rosa Taylor Elementary School and encouraged them to read more, and he also read his own children's book to students. He also gave them free copies.
He says he missed out on reading growing up and didn't become an avid reader until he was in college. On top of playing football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs, he also developed a love of learning.
It motivated him to help advocate for improved literacy in America, which brought him to Macon.
“And I thought was the best route to take to transform lives through literacy,” Mitchell said. “By giving them inspirational material that allows them to believe in reading just as much as I did.”
Mitchell tells adults and kids to read what makes you happy like autobiographies or even picture books.
When you look up Malcolm Mitchell on Google, his title is “writer and poet.”
But when he was drafted in the fourth round to the New England Patriots in 2016, that title might have surprised you. When he signed to the Patriots, he received a four-year contract worth millions.
Then, in 2017, Mitchell was placed on the injured reserve list due to a knee injury. That year, he would have played against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Superbowl, but instead, he was on the sidelines.
In 2019, Mitchell announced he would retire because of his knee injury.
Now, Mitchell is a published author. His first book was published in 2015, and in 2022, he released his latest book, “Hey Georgia.”