His numbers don’t command staggering attention. His coach even conceded that the team needs to improve running the football. But Colts running back Donald Brown has already made an immeasurable impact – not just on the playing field for his Super Bowl-bound team but on the world around him.

He thinks before he speaks, striking some as guarded and others with the notion he’s got wisdom beyond his years. It’s not often you meet a 22-year old who turns down a Christmas gift, matches it dollar for dollar and donates it to a soup kitchen in his hometown.

“He is something special,” said his agent Jamey Crimmins, who took notice of the prolific running back after discovering that both were from New Jersey. “My first impression was that he’s a polite and articulate young man who says things like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Clearly, his parents raised him the right way.”

UConn’s all-time leading rusher with 3,800 yards, Brown entered the draft as a junior, becoming the Colts’ first-round pick in 2009.

But before he could pound the line of scrimmage and help the Colts to an AFC Championship, Brown set out to attack a more pressing issue – mentoring the youth in his community.

“It’s a leadership program that I do back home,” said Brown at the team’s final media session in Miami. “It’s open to the Shore Conference. That’s the conference I played in. That’s where I played high school football.”

Open to 48 schools throughout the Red Bank area of New Jersey, Brown’s leadership program was designed to guide athletes in preparation for the next level – often a pivotal and crucial time in the lives of young people.

“We just talked about the different things that you encounter through high school and college – the adversity and how to overcome some of those obstacles.”

Entrance into the program required each athlete to write an essay about someone they looked up to. Brown read through each essay and narrowed it down to two. The winners -- Travis Sodon and Brendan Kahle -- were honored as Brown’s guests in Indianapolis for the regular-season game against the Jets.

“Travis wrote about his mother, and Brendan actually wrote about one of his teammates (Greg Hickman) who had cancer,“ Brown said. “The ironic thing was that a couple of

Travis Sodon and Brendan Kahle -- students from Brown's hometown area of Red Bank, N.J. -- earned a trip to a Colts game in Indianapolis by writing thoughtful essays.

days after the leadership conference, he (Hickman) passed away, which was a shame. But they were two very powerful essays.”

The Colts lost the game without Peyton Manning, but Brown himself gave a powerful performance and Colts fans a glimpse into the future. His one-yard run in the third quarter put the Colts up by five points, although they would relinquish the lead. Still, people took notice – even the pros. In fact, make that All-Pros.

“He’s tough. He’s a tough runner,” said Super Bowl champion and five-time Pro Bowl selection Ricky Watters. “He runs tough inside. I think he has a chance to really be good.”

Equally impressed was All-Pro running back Tiki Barber, who met with Brown shortly before the draft and even invited him to his home.

“He’s a lot like me. I wasn’t the biggest guy or the fastest guy but I think I worked harder than everyone else and I can understand things mentally which gave me an advantage,” said Barber, whom Brown idolized growing up.

“He’s versatile too. He’s not huge but he’s strong as a runner. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, and in the Colts’ offense, you need a guy like that.”

Watters and Brown were even more impressed by Brown’s initiative and willingness to help others, something they themselves continue to do even though their careers have ended.

“That’s why he’s getting blessed like he is,” Watters said. “That’s why he’s on a great team. That’s why he’s down here ... it’s pretty amazing.”

“It’s commendable,” Barber said. “The things that he does. He cares. That’s something that goes beyond the football field. "You play a game and it’s meaningful I guess to some people, but to others it’s not. But if you make a difference in someone’s life, it lasts forever.”

-- JENNA LAINE
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