Malcolm Mitchell is a Valdosta treasure and now he has a Super Bowl ring. 

While the Super Bowl was disheartening for Falcon fans, it was still a great day for Valdosta as one of our own helped propel his team, the New England Patriots, to NFL glory. 

Mitchell does special things on a football field.

He is equally special off the field. 

His personal story is inspiring. 

Overcoming childhood illiteracy and a litany of injuries during his career at the University of Georgia, the former Valdosta High standout is a champion on the gridiron and in life. 

A few years ago Mitchell didn’t know if he’d ever even play professional football, much less be a Super Bowl champion. 

Mitchell arrived at UGA to great hype as the seventh-ranked receiver on the ESPNU 150 after setting the Valdosta High single season reception record in 2010 with 77 catches for 1,419 yards and seven touchdowns.

A hamstring injury as a freshman and an ankle injury his sophomore year, seemed to put his future as a football player in question, but then he recorded 85 catches, 1,237 yards and eight touchdowns in his first two seasons. 

But the biggest setback of Mitchell’s career came in the Georgia 2013 opener against Clemson when he suffered a torn ACL celebrating teammate Todd Gurley’s 75-yard touchdown run. 

He had to miss the rest of the 2013 season and part of the next, but also mentally, as he stared at the possibility of never returning to the form that saw him finish with the third most receptions (45) of any freshman in UGA history.

Through it all he was optimistic and worked hard every day to rehab, setting an example for younger athletes and for anyone facing setbacks in life. 

In many ways, tearing his ACL was blessing. 

Mitchell had entered college at UGA only able to read on a junior high school level. 

The well-spoken athlete sought help from tutors and mentors to overcome the challenge of not reading at grade-level, but he said in an interview with The Valdosta Daily Times last year it wasn’t until the ACL injury that his love of reading began to flourish.

“That’s when reading became a major part of my life,” Mitchell said. “What reading allowed me to do was to open my mind and expand. I saw you’re trapped in a box, when I began to read, every wall fell down. At that point, life was beyond football. Which I still loved playing football and would play it until my body tells me I can’t. But when I began to read, life became about way more than football.”

Those are powerful words.

Speaking of powerful words, the young man who was very open about his lagging reading ability when he entered college is now a published author. 

In the summer of 2015, he authored the children’s book “The Magician’s Hat.” 

His Read With Malcolm Foundation has inspired young people to read and to focus on their education, even if someday they hope to call themselves Super Bowl champion. 

We are proud of Valdosta’s own — Malcolm Mitchell — for what he has accomplished on the football field. 

We are even more proud of what he has accomplished off the field. 

Congratulations, Malcolm.