Even in the offseason, NFL players are setting records…and making an impact. This spring alone, Baltimore Ravens defensive end MICHAEL MC CRARY donated the largest single gift ever by a pro athlete ($100,000) to an individual Special Olympics program (in Maryland)…Indianapolis Colts running back EDGERRIN JAMES made the largest contribution ever to the University of Miami from a former Hurricane football player ($250,000) to expand the school’s athletic center…Arizona Cardinals quarterback JAKE PLUMMER contributed the biggest gift from a former athlete in Arizona State history ($200,000) to the college’s athletic building expansion…Cincinnati Bengals quarterback AKILI SMITH gave $100,000 to his junior college (Grossmont) in hometown San Diego for the installation of a state-of-the-art athletic field…Colts quarterback PEYTON MANNING has helped organize – remembering the fun he had playing high school football – a public high school football tournament to be played for the first time at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis in August…and Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman LONNIE PALELEI was honored by the Maryland Governor’s Office for coming to the rescue of an elderly victim of a violent crime two years ago.

ITEM TWO:

NFL OWNERS "BUILDING" THEIR ALMA MATER’S FUTURE

NFL owners are giving back to their alma maters. Minnnesota Vikings owner RED MC COMBS has contributed the largest donation -- $50 million – in the history of the University of Texas at Austin to the university’s business school. The college will be renamed the Red McCombs School of Business. It is only the second time in the 117-year history of the university that one of its schools has been named after an individual. The first was the LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON School of Public Affairs in 1970.

ITEM THREE:

YOU HAVE TO BE "TALL" TO BE A FOOTBALL HERO?

Most large universities make top multi-sport high school athletes select only one college sport to play. If you look at three outstanding high school graduates this year, more of the taller young athletes are picking football. All three are receivers, are 6-3 or more, and plan to play football exclusively in college – not football and basketball as they did in high school. JEREMY BATTIER of Country Day (Mich.) High, the 6-5 brother of Duke basketball star SHANE, will play football only for the Blue Devils. ROY WILLIAMS (6-3), thought by some to be the best athlete ever at famed Periman High of Odessa, Texas, will concentrate on football exclusively at Texas. And ANTONIO HARGRO (6-5), who averaged 22 points in basketball as a junior for Gautier (Miss.) High, will be a wideout only for Mississippi State. "Football is my future," Hargro says. They sound like a tall order for college cornerbacks.