Alex Smith: Most Valuable Player on and off the field

There is Marquis Blount, who grew up fatherless with a drug-addled mother.

And Sade Burrell, who went to elementary school dotted with bruises from beatings her mother delivered with a broomstick.

And Cece Hollis, who, at 16, called social services to escape from a mother who neglected and abused her and a younger sister.

And there are 20 other young men and women whose childhoods were ravaged by pain and abandonment. Former foster teens, they’re now college graduates thanks to Alex Smith and his foundation.

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In the past six years, 23 of the 30 foster teens who received scholarships have graduated thanks, in part, to the staggering support they’ve received: up to five years’ tuition, year-round housing, books, mentors, career guidance, health services and living expenses.

READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE: http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2013/03/12/alex-smith-gave-his-all-off-the-field-too

Here's the kicker: This has been funded mostly with Smith's OWN MONEY.

It's one of the worlds' best kept secrets as well. Thank you Alex. And thanks for mentoring your replacement, Colin Kaepernick, with such grace and dignity. You're aces. Good luck in K.C.