Everyone who loves football gets excited around NFL Draft time. The 2006 Draft was extra special for me because that's when I entered the NFL, but this year will also have extra meaning for my family and I because I'll have the honor and privilege of welcoming my younger brother, Vontae into the NFL. It's really hard to find words to describe how it feels as an older brother. Vontae's worked really hard, so he definitely deserves this opportunity, and I'm glad that I'm able to guide him through the lumps and bumps of being a rookie. I've worked hard to set a good example for him, and I'm sure that he's learned a few things from me, but it's been his determination and focus that got him to this point. At the end of the day, it'll also be those things that keep him in the game. I'm very proud of him, and I can't wait to see him on the field.

By the way, you know I'm welcoming Vontae to the NFL in style with an event in New York!

Last week, I got to go a Washington Capitals game for the first time and it was amazing. I plan on buying an Alexander Ovechin #8 jersey because he is a beast.

Then I went to LA for the NAACP Image Awards and to do a photo shoot for a car and high speed magazine (I'll let you know when it hits newsstands so you can go pick it up). It was my first time attending the Image Awards, and I thought the show was very good. I'd definitely go again. I got to see Beyonce, Will Smith, Omar Epps, P. Diddy, Terry Crews and many others who attended, were nominated or won.

I also happened to stop by Nobu one evening to say hi to some friends and ended up hanging out with Ray J, Brandy, Omar Epps, Lil Kim, Tichina Arnold, Jalen Rose, Jackie Long and Terrell Suggs. We all just hung out, talked business and had a great time.

Next, I went to Phoenix to see my brother, Vontae, who's training for the draft and workout myself at API. While in Phoenix I went to some NBA All-Star weekend events like the 944 Magazine events at the W Hotel, NBA players association gifting suite and House of Hennessey gifting suite. I got a pair of exclusive sneakers that supposedly only 500 were only made. Maurice Hennessy actually autographed them to me himself. I probably won't wear them so I can keep them as a collector's item.

Now I'm in NY for my first experience at NY fashion week. Stay tuned to hear how it was.


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This past weekend I went back home to D.C. to spend time with my family and attend some Inauguration events. I got a chance to meet a lot of people in business, politics, entertainment and sports- especially at the Hip Hop Summit Ball (see pic here). I also received an award at the Change the Game ball. I won't even talk about the events at Ibiza and Shadow room... INSANE! My hometown was CRAZY, but it made me proud, and the inauguration itself was a breathtaking thing to watch. I watched it from home with my family and friends, but it will still be something I remember for the rest of my life. While in D.C. I also saw Notorious, and it was amazing. I almost cried at the end because people believed Biggie was the reason Tupac got shot. It was unreal how that caused so much confusion.

The trip was a short one, though because I had to fly to L.A. yesterday so that I could do an interview for a new show that will include myself and some other prominent Black men. I don't want to leak out the network or too many details yet but I will let you know as it gets closer to air. Now, I am getting ready to go to the Super Bowl in Tampa and will hit you guys after my experience down there. I know I am from the NFC, and people in DC are used to seeing me hangout with my boy Dockett, but I am rooting for Pittsburgh Steelers because Arizona is a rival in my conference. Dockett, you're my boy, but...

On Tuesday, I picked up a kid by the name of Omar Navarro from his house, we had a police escort and a limo, as part of the NFL's Take a Player to School program. I was there helping the NFL Play 60 get up and play 60 minutes a day campaign for the kids to let the kids know they don't have to be an NFL player to get up and workout. Get up and do something constructive, whether it be dancing, playing basketball or football, running track. Anything to stay healthy. Not only does it keep kids healthy but it keeps them out of trouble because they have something positive to do with their time instead of doing something else. When I got to the school, I said a speech to let them know why I was there and the cause of me being there. After that, I went outside and Omar and I made up a list of activities that we put together for us to do with the rest of the kids while we were outside. We did things like throw the football, handed the ball off and let them run around the cones, jumping jacks, push ups, and high knees. When I think about why I do these types of events, I just have to think back to when I was younger and you always wanted something like this to happen. Things don't happen like this because people don't have the access and it's hard to reach out to someone who does what I do. For me, it means a lot to be able to do something like this because you never know whose heart you can touch during that time.

I didn't really do anything over the couple of days heading into the game against St. Louis. I just stayed in the same routine of getting massages and making sure my body was ready. Today we just pretty much watched the film together and tried to correct the mistakes we made on Sunday. That was pretty much it. I was excited about our performance on Sunday. It felt good to get out of the whole we were in. I got a chance to score which was good. My number was called and I saw the middle of the endzone wide open and I turned around and Shaun put the ball right there. He has been terrific. He has been poised In the pocket. He gets rid of the ball and throws it to the spot where it needs to be. I think he is doing a tremendous job. I am definitely going to watch the Browns and Bills on Monday Night Football. I am going to focus on the Bills because we play them in two weeks. I am going to check them out and see how their front line looks and what kind of coverages they run.

My bye week was interesting. I went home for a little bit, just to see the family back in DC. I tried to use that opportunity to just go back home and get away from football and focus on coming back fresh. Although I kind of use the travel time to think about some of the things that I can do better, different ways I can improve my game. Just little things instead of working out and being physical and stuff like that. I also watched my little brother Vontae play on television when Illinois played Iowa. It was good. I try to watch every last one of my little brother's games. If I can't catch it then I'll just Tivo it. He did well. He had a pick. He played well, made a lot of tackles. I just texted him after the game because I know he's traveling. If he's not traveling he's probably busy with other stuff, so I just text him and just keep it moving. I'm ready to get back at it. I'm excited just like Coach Singletary said. He's excited and we should be excited for what we are about to do. All it takes is faith, belief in yourself and your teammates and anything can happen from there. If we cut out the penalties, make plays and just be aggressive we can be successful Monday night against the Cardinals.

Last night I went to Halloween Heroes, a charity event for at-risk youth in the Bay Area in San Francisco. Halloween Heroes is a charity Halloween party held each year at the Exploratorium in San Francisco where kids can come dressed up in their Halloween costumes and interact with their favorite athletes in the Bay Area and take part in multiple activities including face painting, arts & crafts, and science demonstrations from the Exploratorium. All proceeds from the event benefit the Wender Weis Foundation who provide charitable relief and assistance to children in need. I attended with my teammate Patrick Willis and as soon as we got in there the kids rushed us. We signed autographs and took pictures. Then we went on the stage and they introduced us and signed more autographs and interacted with the kids afterwards. I like to go to events like this because when I think about when I was young, I wanted the same thing, to interact with athletes like us. Some people are less fortunate than others and they don't have access to us, and the ones that can get it, they will cherish it for the rest of their life. Anything that has to do with kids, I'm all about it.

I spoke to Coach Singletary today. We talked briefly. I didn't really say much to him, I pretty much just listened to what he had to say. I saw the point he was trying to make as far as on the field. He pretty much told me I've got to be aware of what's going on, on the field. If someone says something to me, I can't let it bother me. I have got to be bigger than that. I agree. I shouldn't have retaliated after the guy said what he said. I should have just moved on and tried to be the bigger man. One thing about me, when I get heated, I just want to be to myself. I didn't really hear Coach Singletary call me on sideline. I didn't really hear him calling me at the time. I was just in another world because I had everybody else saying something to me. I didn't really hear anybody else talking. I didn't say anything to coach. I pretty much just listened to Coach Singletary said when he approached me. He told me to sit down and I sat down, and he told me to go inside and I went inside. I was asked today by the media if Coach Singletary and I could work together. Yeah, I believe we can make it work. Coach Singletary, he's a coach that really wants to win. He's excited and this is his first time having a big job like this so he has to get comfortable, and we have to get comfortable with each other, I think he's going to do a good job. I know that I'm a team guy. My teammates know it. I love my teammates, I love the coaches. I think that they're doing a good job around here, and I would never do anything to hurt my teammates or put them in any kind of trouble. Coach Singletary always preaches we have to stay together and he's right, team first. It's about the team, it ain't about me, it ain't about the coaches, it ain't about individuals. It's about the team. When you're playing this game, especially where we're at right now. We're at a point right now where we need to come out of a hole. It's tough. We really have to be a team at this point and depend on each other.

The last couple of days have been filled with highs and lows. I went to the San Francisco 49ers Academy last week and donated $7,500 worth of sports apparel. It was tops and bottoms to the kids so they can have something to wear when there in physical education. It was important to me because those kids didn't have anything to work out in. They've been wearing the same thing for years so it touched my heart just to be able to go out and reach out to them by donating some of my sports apparel that I get from Under Armour to them. They were excited. They made me cards and they told me they loved me which meant a lot to me. I definitely felt the same way. When you're young, receiving something like a gift or whatever it may be, that's like the highlight of your day being able to receive something from someone because you can cherish that forever. It's very special especially for a kid who comes from nothing, that doesn't have much, that can't afford many things. For you to give them something new, especially some new sports apparel that they see on TV day in and day out. It's a pretty neat deal. Then as you probably know by now, we made a change at head coach. My position coach Pete Hoener called me on Monday and told me that Mike Nolan has been let go. I was like wow. We were all called in for a Tuesday morning meeting and the new coach Mike Singletary pretty much said how it was honor for him to step in and fill Mike Nolan's shoes. He also said he went to Mike Nolan and asked him if it's alright that he took the job. Mike Nolan told him that if he didn't take the job he'd be a fool and then he started to talk about how we need to turn thing around and practice like champions and he meant it. Coach Singletary brings a lot of energy. His speeches, they really seem to touch the team. If you look at some of the guys faces they really are tuned in to what he's saying. They might be like a couple of feet away from him but it seems like he's right up in their face by the looks of their expressions that you see on their faces. As for the game this week against Seattle, we know it will be a revenge game for the Seahawks because we beat them at Qwest Field. We're going to have to really bring it to them this time because we kind of struggled last time with these guys on offense even though we scored 33 points. We can make it a lot easier on ourselves if we just come off from the jump, come out hard and strong, make plays and let the defense handle their part.

Here's an article about the 49ers Academy: San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis donated $7,500 in Under Armour gear to the San Francisco 49ers Academy today in East Palo Alto, Calif. The 49ers Academy is a public alternative school supported by a private non-profit agency for 6th, 7th and 8th graders in the community. "Sports have been such a big part of my life from the time I was a young student in P.E. class in Maryland," Davis said. "It's extremely important to me that students have the opportunity to participate in sports and I hope my donation will help the students of the 49ers Academy succeed." Davis, an Under Armour spokesperson, presented the gift, which will be used towards new Under Armour shorts, shirts and socks for students participating in the school's organized sports program, during two P.E. classes at the East Palo Alto location of the Academy. Davis is actively involved in supporting organizations in both of his hometown communities ? San Francisco and Washington D.C. In 2007, he made his first $10,000 donation to Newborn Pentecostal in honor of his grandmother, Adaline Davis, who raised him and his six siblings and has pledged to make the donation annually to help the church refurbish and expand its building.