NFL Athletes Once Scared to Read in Public Read to 500 Kids in South Bay

LA Rams' Todd Gurley and Super Bowl champ Malcolm Mitchell read to 500 students at Peter Burnett Elementary School in Hawthorne Tuesday morning as part of "Read to a Child Day."

Each student got a copy of Mitchell's book "The Magician's Hat" to take home with them, and a few kids even got their jerseys signed.

The football duo conducted a read-along with the students, and talked candidly about how they were once shy about reading in pubic. The event was part of Read to a Child's effort to raise awareness of the literacy crisis in the United States and address it by getting kids excited about books.

The event was sponsored by Mitchell's Read With Malcolm initiative and Gurley's M.A.D.E Sports Foundation as well as national literacy non-profit Read to a Child. The non-profit offers lunchtime readings between mentors and under-served children at schools across the nation. They currently have the program set up at seven elementary schools in LA county.