Dick Vermeil, the longtime NFL and most recent Kansas City Chiefs coach, said he’s never seen a running back like Shaun Alexander.
The peekaboo running style of the Seattle Seahawks tailback makes him one of a kind. He glides behind the line, looking for the slightest opening, then watch out!
In 2002, Shaun ran for an NFL record five touchdowns in a half against Minnesota. In 2001, he smashed through the Oakland Raiders’ defense for 266 yards—fourth highest single-game total in NFL history.
Shaun Alexander is as unique off the field as he is on it. Seattle’s first-round draft pick in 2000, 19th overall, isn’t just a running back. He’s also a helping hand to many poor families.
GIVE IT AWAY
Shaun used some of his original $3.85 million signing bonus from the Seahawks to begin the Shaun Alexander Family Foundation, targeting single-parent families and kids. His foundation does everything from paying rent and utility bills to buying school clothes and school lunches.
“My mom taught me about giving,” he says. “She was always giving.”
Even though Carol Alexander was a single mother and didn’t have much money, she was always willing to help someone else. The Alexanders’ dinner table often had a visitor, and Carol taught her two sons a basic truth about giving.
“You can’t outgive God,” Shaun says.
His brother also learned that lesson, so Shaun didn’t have to look far when he went searching for a director of his foundation. He hired his older brother Durran, who earned his marketing degree at Notre Dame.
The foundation is headquartered in the Alexanders’ hometown of Florence, Ky., with additional offices in Seattle and Tuscaloosa, Ala., where Shaun played college football at the University of Alabama.
“I play to make a difference in their lives,” Shaun says. “It’s not just about football. It’s also about helping others.”
The Alexander brothers work through established state and city government agencies, as well as local churches, putting their name on the list of places to go to get help. In 2001, the foundation gave out $22,000 to help 250 families in northern Kentucky and Alabama. Shaun doesn’t know how much the foundation has spent this year.
“I don’t want to count numbers,” he says. “My advisers tell me I shouldn’t [have that kind of attitude]. I don’t get into how much I’m giving. I just feel that if I’m supposed to give, I’ll pray about it and just let it rip.”
At Thanksgiving, the foundation delivers turkey meals to homes. At Christmas, families receive ham dinners, wrapped gifts and a tree. Last year, nearly 300 meals were served, and 200 children received gifts. He’s also started a college scholarship fund.
“It’s all about giving back,” Shaun says. “A lot of people around me ask why I am doing this. And they’re telling me I shouldn’t be doing this, but you know what? You can’t outgive God.”
“Shaun and Durran are a great team,” says Ben Brown, Shaun’s cousin and employee of his nonprofit organization. “It’s amazing what they’ve done. They’ve helped a lot of lives.”
But it’s not just about money. The foundation also passes on a message of hope.
“A lot of times when people come in to get money, we’ll share Bible verses with them,” Ben says. “We also pray for them in the office.”
Ben also hands them a pamphlet about the foundation, which includes Shaun’s testimony. In July 2002, Shaun was able to deliver that message about his relationship with Christ before 68,000 people at a Billy Graham Crusade in Cincinnati.
DREAMING BIG
When Shaun first started thinking of playing in the NFL, he began planning on ways to help people.
“In college he talked about helping people,” Ben says. “It was one of those ministries he knew he wanted to do. It hasn’t just been about football for Shaun. It’s also always been about helping people.”
At first, he considered building homes for needy families. But that was already being done.
“My brother and I were thinking we’ve got to do something to help people,” Shaun says. “A friend of our family who played for the San Diego Chargers built houses for families who couldn’t afford one. I thought, Let’s do something different than that. So we came up with the idea to help kids.”
Besides helping a family pay the bills and put clothes on the kids, Shaun’s foundation also helps send kids to Fellowship of Christian Athlete summer camps. Shaun says the camps are a chance to help plant seeds of discretion.
“When you’re young, you’re asking, ‘How far is too far?’ ” he says. “That’s because you don’t know better. Let’s say you’re out with your friends and they’re drinking. You think I guess it’s all right because they aren’t drunk. That’s a lack of knowledge.”
NO. 37
Shaun accepted Jesus into his life when he was 10 at a church Easter service. When he was 18, he memorized a Scripture that he says helped shape his life: “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Today, Shaun accompanies his autograph with that verse.
“That’s the first Scripture I ever memorized’—other than John 3:16 and ‘Jesus wept,’ ” he says. “God’s going to give you the desires of your heart. He’s promised that.”
So does Shaun wear No. 37 because of that verse? No. In high school, his favorite number was 44. But a linebacker already had that number, so Shaun opted for 37.
“He chose that number because it was different,” says Ben, who played defensive end on that high school team and later played at Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky.
Shaun made that number famous in 2001 when he moved into the Seahawks starting lineup because Ricky Watters got hurt. In his first two starts, Shaun rushed for 176 and 142 yards. Although he started just 12 of the 16 games, he finished with the fifth-best rushing season ever for a Seahawks running back with 1,318 yards. He scored 16 touchdowns on the season—14 rushing, two receiving—and led the AFC in rushing touchdowns. And his 1,661 all-purpose yards for the year included the fourth-best, single-game rushing performance in league history: the 266 yards against the Raiders. (It’s now fifth best.)
But Shaun says that remarkable day wasn’t the best day in his life. That distinction came when he led someone to Christ. It was then that Shaun realized the impact he had on that person’s life. “I just thought it was way bigger than anything else I had ever done before,” he says.
ULTIMATE GOAL LINE
At 26, Shaun has all the wealth and fame life has to offer. He lives in a big home and drives an older SUV. Yet he says those possessions aren’t the most important things in his life. His emphasis is giving back.
“A rich man thinks of himself as being rich,” Shaun says. “I just think of myself as being blessed. If I’m just blessed, then I’ll go out and bless other people.
“We just want to help kids. Most kids don’t know that they’re supposed to be something awesome in this world, or they don’t believe they can be. I play to help them understand that they are special.”
Shaun isn’t surprised by his success in the NFL. He’s always set lofty goals. Before his senior year in high school, he wrote down a goal of 50 touchdowns. He scored 54. At Alabama, he became the school’s all-time leading rusher with 3,565 yards, 15 100-yard games and 50 touchdowns.
Just like his unique running style, Shaun has never been the one to do something just because everyone else is.
“I’m always the oddball compared to everyone else,” he says. “That’s because I don’t live by their rules. I go by God’s rules.” 
