Signing Day is a big deal for most high school athletes in Nebraska.
But for one Crete student, it's been a life changing 24 hours.

Just a few months ago, Mitch Marvin thought he would have to give up on a childhood dream. " I just felt that everything had been taken from me," said Mitch while describing a devastating injury on the football field that put him in physical therapy.

He added that a torn rotator cuff is a tough injury to recover from. He said "It's been about four months or five months since the injury. I'm still going to physical therapy. I don't have my full range of motion. They cleared me for basketball for a few weeks ago and I couldn't even shoot the ball."

Mitch's mother, Tami, says it's been a challenging time for the entire family. She said " As a parent, It's probably one of the hardest things you have to do is watch your child go through adversity."

Early Wednesday morning, Mitch said he received a life-changing call from Augustana. He said of the call "I just had it all planned out on what I was going to do.They said they wanted me to play football. It threw me for a loop."

Mitch says although the injury was devastating he never gave up hope. He says he owes a huge debt of gratitude to his family.

He added " I gotta say it was my mom that really kept me on and every day. If it was a bad day, she would always come up and let me know that God has a plan. That I had something coming. There was some reason for my injury."

Mitch also credits his father, his siblings and his teammates for helping him with his recovery and the opportunity he's been given by Augustana. He says his teammates went so far as to wear "number four" bracelets (Mitch's number on the field) to support him.

Tami says she hopes others hearing of Mitch's experience who may be dealing with adversity right now will be inspired. Tami urges others to practice "Never giving up hope, never giving up a dream. Never giving up on anything whether that be friends or education. Especially a dream to play football in this case."

Mitch says he hopes to use this experience to help out others in the field of sports medicine, which is what he plans to study when he starts at Augustana in the fall.