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Theater Shooting Victim Looks Forward To Playing Football For CSU

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) - One player's story of accomplishment and resilience is truly special as many high school athletes made college commitments on National Signing Day.

Zack Golditch, a senior football player at Gateway High School in Aurora, was injured in the shootings at the Aurora movie theater. Now he looks forward to a promising future on the field.

CBS4's Suzanne McCarroll was at the signing Wednesday afternoon.

Golditch has a lot to be proud of after he signed with Colorado State University despite being shot in the neck just 6 1/2 months ago in the Aurora theater.

It has been a stellar senior year for Golditch. His Gateway football team finished a respectable 7-3. The team's pregame cheers were "We Won't Be Beat," and certainly Golditch embodies that motto.

"The entry point, we believe, is right below my ear lobe," he told CBS4 soon after the shooting.

Golditch had a bullet go through his neck.

"Okay, I'm cut pretty bad because I could feel it dripping a lot," Golditch said.

Zack Golditch
Zack Golditch on National Signing Day (credit: CBS)

But number 60 is a tough lineman. With hard work he was back on the field talking of tackles and not theater trauma. His bandage was replaced with a crown when he was elected homecoming king. His leadership helped his classmates get beyond that frightening night in July.

On National Signing Day it is the future everyone was focusing on. Football, yes, but even more so on the character and tenacity of a lineman who didn't let a bullet deter him from his dream.

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