Former Georgia football wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell has decided to retire from football. Mitchell announced the news at a Ted Talk event on Georgia’s campus.

Mitchell did not play this past season, as he was waived by the New England Patriots back in August. Mitchell has not played since Super Bowl 51, as he missed all of the 2017 season while he was on injured reserve as he recovered from a knee injury.

Mitchell was a big-time recruiting win for Georgia back in the 2011 recruiting class, as the Bulldogs beat out Alabama, and Kirby Smart to land his services. Mitchell was a 4-star recruit out of Valdosta High School. Mitchell had an immediate impact at Georgia, as he had 45 receptions for 665 yards and was named to the SEC’s All Freshman team.

Arguably, Mitchell’s biggest moment in a Georgia uniform came during his sophomore season, when he scored the game-sealing touchdown in the 2012 Georgia-Florida game. Mitchell also played defensive back in his sophomore season.

Mitchell suffered an unfortunate knee injury in the opening game of the 2013 season against Clemson. Mitchell was celebrating a Todd Gurley touchdown run when he injured the knee.  The injury caused him to miss the remainder of that season, as well as a chunk of the next year as well. In 2015, Mitchell led Georgia in receiving with 58 receptions for 865 yards.

The Patriots took Mitchell in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. The former UGA wide receiver played a key role in the Patriots’ Super Bowl 51 comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. Mitchell finished the game with 6 catches for 70 yards. Five of those six catches came in the fourth quarter of the 34-28 win.

Georgia wide receiver Terry Godwin praised Mitchell at Georgia’s pro day this week for helping him get to this point. Godwin used that advice to help a number of other wide receivers who have played for Georgia.

“It was the same thing Malcolm Mitchell did with me freshman year,” Godwin said. “That’s what I did for him (Mecole) and Riley. Just push them to be the best wide receivers they could be.”

While Mitchell was injured in his time at Georgia, he became a big advocate of literacy, and wrote a children’s book titled “The Magician’s Hat.” Mitchell received a number of offseason awards in his time at Georgia for his work in the Athens community. Mitchell also left Georgia as the school’s third all-time leader in receptions. Mitchell also ranks fifth all-time in receiving yards at Georgia.

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