Former NFL player eyes Olympic prize

"It's never too late, its never too late to change."

In 2002 Abbeville native Brandon Mitchell appeared to have it all. He helped the New England Patriots win a Super Bowl, had a parade thrown in his honor and was given the key to the city. But deep down struggled with a drug and alcohol addiction.

"I put my family through a lot of horrible horrible things, I put a lot of my friends in a lot of bad bad situations. I put people that cared about me in a lot of serious situations."

After retiring from the NFL in 2004 he returned to his hometown. Unable to keep any of his business endeavors going, Mitchell fell on hard times.

"Yes I had companies, but I wasn't on top of them, I wasn't taking care of them, I didn't put the energy in to keep 'em right. I made a lot of horrible decisions with money."

In December 2008 Mitchell was arrested on drug charges. He says it was a wake-up call.