The 'Chance Encounter' a Football Star Had at a Bookstore That Proves You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover

Kathy Rackley never expected to bump into a college football star while roaming through her local Barnes & Noble. In fact, she had no idea she had done so even after striking up a conversation with one.

The Athens, Georgia woman was searching for a book when she met Malcolm Mitchell — number 26 on the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team.

Image source: Screen grab via YouTube

"I mean a chance encounter in a bookstore, how wonderful is that?" Kathy told the CBS Evening News, adding that she had no clue who Mitchell was.

"None whatsoever," she said.[sharequote align="right"]"I mean a chance encounter in a bookstore, how wonderful is that?"[/sharequote]

Instead of chatting with him about football, Rackley bragged about her book club.

"I mean he like stepped back and he said 'You did? You did?' and he said, 'Can I join your book club?'" Rackley recalled to CBS Evening News.

"And I said, 'I don't know if you want to join mine. We're all 40-, 50-, and 60-year-old women.'"

That didn't bother Mitchell. Now, as CBS Evening News reported, one of the nation's top wide-receivers meets each month with the group.

Image source: Screen grab via YouTube

Image source: Screen grab via YouTube

He's the only male and far younger than the other members, but he doesn't care.

"Somebody called me a nerd. That's not a word that I'm used to hearing," he said. "I was proud of it... It's like a badge of honor to me, knowing where I came from."

[sharequote align="center"]"Somebody called me a nerd...I was proud of it."[/sharequote]

Mitchell told the CBS Evening News that when he first entered college, he could only read at a junior-high level. Since, he's put everything he has into changing that.

Image source: Screen grab via YouTube

At almost every chance Mitchell gets, he is reading. When the CBS Evening News asked him for his most proud accomplishment, football wasn't even on his list.

"I finished the 'Hunger Games' series in about two days," Mitchell answered, noting that football always "came natural."

"That's a gift. I had to work to read," he said.

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