WOOSTER, Ohio — Dan Sommers ended his college football career the same way he began it — as a winner.

The Slippery Rock High graduate saw limited playing time at right guard for the College of Wooster as a freshman in 2004, a year in which the Scots finished 10-0 and as outright North Coast Athletic Conference champions for the first tie since 1934.

Sommers became a starter his sophomore year and became an all-conference center his final two seasons.

"I'm so proud of him,"his mother, Beverly Sommers said. ""You don't think about football players doing what he did."

Only she's not talking about her son's exploits on the field.

The 6-foot, 270-pound Sommers joined five teammates over the past two years in doing community work for Every Woman's House, a shelter for abused women and their children in Wayne County, where Wooster is located.

The players lived in one of a dozen "program houses" on the Wooster campus. To live in one of them, students must perform some type of community service.

"We've had students work with Habitat for Humanity, the humane society, YMCA, a local nursing home, things like that,"said Wooster media relations director High Howard. "The program houses have been a great benefit to the community."

And these football players have been a great benefit to Every Woman's House — enough so to be written up in the "Making a Difference" section in the Dec. 31 issue of Sports Illustrated.

The article appears on Page 52, which happens to be Sommers' uniform number.

"It's pretty cool,"Sommers said of being recognized in a national magazine. "It's a nice way to go out and it brings attention to an important cause."

While the players are not permitted in the actual facility — Every Woman's House is for females only — Sommers and his teammates contribute to the cause in other ways.

"We've raised awareness on campus, worked in the donation program, cleaned and sorted various items, and we've organized a candlelight vigil,"Sommers said.

Perhaps most importantly, they've given presentations at high schools in the area, talking about domestic violence and healthy dating relationships.

"It's very special, what those guys are doing,"Wooster football coach Mike Schmitz said. "Success in life is about developing character every day and giving back.

"Too much of society is 'What's in it for me?' or 'What am I going to get out of this?' These guys aren't that way at all.

"In football, we teach kids to hit people and hit them hard. But that's confined to inside the white lines. That's where it ends. This is all about showing respect for other human beings,"Schmitz added.

Sommers said he had no problem with volunteering to help at Every Women's House, showing no fear of misconceptions that he and his teammates might be doing public service as part of a court sentence.

"Football players carry the label of being a jock or that we tend to be womanizers,"he said. "Hopefully, we dispelled some of those notions."

"There's another side to these kids,"his mother agreed.

The Sports Illustrated article has been well-received by Wooster alumni and the general area.

"The response we've gotten has been phenomenal,"Howard said. "My office received e-mails before I even knew the article was coming out."

On the field, Sommers overcame a staph infection and high ankle sprain to return to the lineup for Wooster's final two games — both victories in a 4-6 season.

He served as a team captain this season.

"Dan was virtually playing on one leg at the end of the season,"Schmitz said. "We weren't going anywhere, but it was his senior year and he wanted to be out there. What an inspiration he was for his teammates."

Sommers also broke his thumb in two places this year, but played through that setback.

"We didn't have the kind of season we wanted to have — or I wanted to have,"he said.

That's OK.

He more than made up for it off the field.