HOUSTON - Derrick Johnson knows a thing or two about receiving a helping hand.
All the Kansas City Chiefs' starting linebacker had to do was look back at his freshman year at Texas.
Stuck in Austin without a car, Johnson would hitch rides to Waco every weekend from backup quarterback Matt Nordgren.
"We were real close," Johnson said. "Whenever he went home to Dallas, he'd always drop me off, and whenever he went back, he'd pick me right back up on I-35."
"Derrick's like a brother to me," said Nordgren, who signed a free-agent contract for the Eagles in 2006. "I feel like I helped him out."
So it made sense that once Johnson made it big time, he would seek out ways to give back. And he invited his driving buddy to help him out.
Johnson's new foundation, King of the Field, hosted a bowling tournament Saturday night in hopes of raising money to give scholarships to inner-city youth.
Standing right next to Johnson on the lanes was Matt Nordgren.
"To see what he's doing here with this foundation, it's great," Nordgren said.
Johnson's foundation also hosted a benefit dinner Thursday night to honor a Texas benefactor, Houston attorney Joe Jamail.
King of the Field is run by Johnson's brother, Dwayne, who says he plans to build parks, football fields, and start after-school programs in Kansas, Missouri and Texas.
"We're trying to get them to step up to the challenge of being productive citizens," Dwayne said.
The linebacker started doing community work with his teammates while at Texas. He would visit YMCAs, schools and charity hospitals in Austin and Waco.
"Once he was drafted he was like, 'I want to keep doing this,'" Dwayne said. "And then he realized that with this opportunity and his new financial situation that he could start a foundation."
Recently the foundation built a park in a poor neighborhood on the south side of Kansas City.
"It's phenomenal," Dwayne said. "The kids around it are so much more responsible because they have something they can be proud of."
Derrick acknowledged the problem that faces kids growing up in rougher neighborhoods.
"It's pretty hard to stay focused when you're not financially stable," he said.
His brother put it more bluntly.
"All they know is those four or five blocks," Dwayne said. "They don't always have a doctor or lawyer next door, so they sometimes only see very foul things that are on the lower side of society."
And, for better or worse, they look up to athletes as their role models. With negative examples such as Adam "Pacman" Jones or Terry "Tank" Johnson abundant in today's sports era, Derrick understands the importance of his work.
"I'm lucky to be in a place where I can influence kids. As a football player, I'm a role model. Some of us are more of an inspiration to them than their parents, sometimes."
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