FORT COLLINS — At three high schools near Kansas City, Mo., where his late father once starred for the NFL's Chiefs, running back Donnell Alexander earned four varsity letters, amassed more than 7,000 yards rushing, averaged 8.8 yards per carry and scored 95 touchdowns.
The Colorado State true freshman was to offense what his biological father, legendary linebacker/defensive end Derrick Thomas, was to defense.
He was a dominant game-changer.
"He's a big-time talent," Rams coach Steve Fairchild said of Alexander, one of two true freshmen looking to avoid a redshirt season and contribute to an experienced Rams' backfield. "Just coming in the way he does, he's not like a normal kid out of high school. He's over 200 pounds and can run. We're lucky to have him, and he's going to have a good career."
Alexander, 18, is learning the offense behind seniors Derek Good and Raymond Carter and sophomore Chris Nwoke. The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Alexander or former Abilene, Texas, star Davon Riddick (6-0, 205), also a true freshman, will likely be asked to redshirt after Saturday's Ram Club scrimmage, although Fairchild said both might spend the season on the practice squad if Good, Carter and Nwoke remain healthy halfway through the year.
"I'm on the sideline and when I'm called on I'm going to go out there and do my job," Alexander said. "If I was to be redshirted, I'll just take that as a time for me to train — get bigger, faster, stronger. . . . Either way, I'm willing to do whatever to make the team better."
Back in 2000, a day before Alexander's seventh birthday on Jan. 24, Derrick Thomas suffered a severe injury and permanent paralysis when he was thrown from his sport utility vehicle in a one-car accident on a Kansas City highway. Thomas died two weeks later, on Feb. 8, from a blood clot that traveled to his lungs.
Alexander doesn't remember much about his father, primarily because he was mostly raised by his mother, Kim Alexander, and maternal grandfather Jack Williams.
Williams died from a prolonged illness in 2009 — the same year Thomas was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Williams' illness partly explains why Donnell attended three high schools. He and his mother wanted to be close to where Williams was being treated.
"I really wasn't around my dad as much as a younger child, so (Williams) basically took the role," said Alexander, who has a tattoo on his neck that reads "RIP DaDa" in Williams' honor. "He taught me how to be a man and grow up to be a good man. He helped me develop good character and helped me get to where I'm at now."
Alexander, who finished high school with a 3.2 grade-point average, still has plenty of support. His mother recently moved from Kansas City to Aurora to be closer to her son.
"I have a good mother, but a mother . . . can't teach you how to be a man," Alexander said. "It's tough at times. I wish I could be able to talk to my dad about issues I have here at school or on the field and stuff like that. But my mom does the job. She plays all those roles pretty well."
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