Had everything gone according to plan, Malcolm Mitchell would still be a part of the New England Patriots’ wide receiver group. After all, he showed considerable promise during his 2016 rookie season and appeared to be well on his way to become a contributor for the team for years to come. Then came 2017, however: he missed all of his second year in the NFL due to a nagging knee injury that would ultimately end his career.

The 26-year-old officially announced his retirement from pro football earlier this year. At that point, he had already been released by the Patriots — they parted ways with him in August of 2018 — after appearing in only sixteen games for them and not playing in one since Super Bowl 51. Since his retirement, Mitchell’s focus has been on his Read With Malcolm initiative and on producing creative content; his latest project was released this week.

Together with collaborative partner Parker Lee, he created the short film ‘Treasure Box’ about his “unfavorable break up with football and full transition into his creative mind.” The first part of the film was released via Mitchell’s Instagram account on Monday:

Filmed entirely in Super 8, ‘Treasure Box’ gives an intimate look into Mitchell’s mind more than two years removed from his final football game: “I feel enraged, useless, scared,” he said in the film. “I don’t have any memories of myself without football. That’s how I was going to take care of my family. With football it was easy to see into the future. And now without it, my days get a bit blurred from time to time.”

“I feel like I was forced to make a decision: it was either continue to trying to play foot or starting trying live my life — and I made a choice, reluctantly,” Mitchell also said during the 7-minute video that makes up the first part of the film. When subsequent ones will be released is not yet known, but make sure to regularly check Pats Pulpit for updates.