In Rod We Trust

Contract negotiations and Super Bowl preparations are nothing compared to the plight of the over 500,000 American kids in the foster care system. 59 percent of whom are of color. This troubling reality isn't something that can be rectified with one Thanksgiving bowl-a-thon or annual Labor Day cookout either, which is why Rod Coleman of the Atlanta Falcons is committed year-round to making a dent in the situation. "I could go out there and donate to different charities," the seven-year vet out of East Carolina insists, "but I want to be involved. A lot of people help out once a year. But I've always been a different kind of person."

Coleman's exceptional 6-foot-2, 285-pound frame aside, the Philly native is showing just how different he is from the average person (and pro athlete, for that matter) by spearheading a project where his Rod Coleman Foundation unites with Decatur, Georgia's Turning Point Group Home to unofficially "adopt" 50 kids for an entire year. He's down-to-earth and we thank God for him. You just can't imagine for someone to say. "I want to help these kids," says Turning Point director Phyliss Churn.