Zack Golditch is now heading to Colorado State after overcoming being shot.
Photo courtesy of Gateway High
The most significant signing in the country may not have come from any Top 10 or Top 100 recruit.
It occurred in a suburban Denver school not known for its football talent nearly as much as its perseverance.
Zack Golditch of
Gateway (Aurora, Colo.) signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Colorado State University at 2:30 p.m. local time, and it represented a significant comeback from a national tragedy.
Golditch, a massive 6-foot-5, 250-pound offensive lineman, was
one of the victims of the Aurora theater shooting in June the claimed the lives of 12 people and injured 57 others. On that night, Golditch was in an adjacent theater when the shooting began. A stray bullet ripped through a wall and tore through his neck, just below his ear.
It entered in one side of his neck and exited through the other. Miraculously, the bullet struck no major nerves or arteries.
"It just went in one side and out the other. I also have a pretty deep cut from where it hit," Golditch said afterward. "There was no serious damage at all. Luckily for me, it missed everything. It's a blessing."
Golditch went on to earn
all-state honors as a defensive lineman in Class 5A, Colorado's largest classification. He also earned a spot on the
Denver Post/MaxPreps All-Colorado team.
On Wednesday, Golditch signed with little fanfare, in a minor ceremony at his school.
Despite the lack of television cameras and media members, Golditch signing his National Letter of Intent is perhaps the greatest story of this year's National Signing Day.
