reported on denverbroncos.com

When Marcus Thomas was still in college, he knew the first thing he wanted to do if he made it to the NFL -- he wanted to help his community.

It wasn't until he was invited to the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Challenge that he realized he wanted to help by being a part of the National ID Program.

"They had a couple of guys speaking about the child ID program, and I was saying in my head, 'If I make it to the league, if I'm given that opportunity, that's how I want to give back.'"

And in his second year in the NFL, Thomas has done just that. He helped provide 56,000 Child ID Kits to all kindergarten students in the state of Colorado, and that gesture garnered attention and an award from the FBI.

On Monday, Thomas arrived at the State Capitol in a limosine, met with Gov. Bill Ritter and was presented the award at a press conference inside the Capitol.

"This is a great opportunity for us to recognize an athlete who is doing a great thing for his community, making a significant contribution on behalf of his community," said Special Agent in Charge James H. Davis, who is part of the FBI's partnership with the National ID Program. "We greatly appreciate Mr. Thomas' efforts, and it is my honor on behalf of the Director of the FBI to present Mr. Thomas with the Exceptional Service in the Public Interest Award. I can't say enough about what he is doing to help this community."

The idea behind the National ID Program is to help families be prepared in the case that a child goes missing. The American Football Coaches Association created the National Child Identification Program in 1997, then in 2001 the FBI partnered with the association, making it the only program of its kind to gain the backing of the FBI.

Kenny Hansmire, the executive director of the coaches association, explained the use of the child ID kits that Thomas donated. Each contains an inkless fingerprint kit, a wallet card and DNA collection swabs.

"The kits will go out to parents, they'll be sent home with the children along with a letter that basically says it's a little homework assignment," Hansmire said. "It takes about five minutes to fill the ID kit out, and what we do is we ask the parents to keep this ID kit in case of an emergency. What we hope is that it goes into a photo album, and that way if the child becomes missing, the parent can turn the kit over to law enforcement and hopefully help bring their child home."

But at the same time, that's the worst-case scenario. And Hansmire said hopefully the kit will eventually just hold sentimental value.

"What hopefully happens, and what Marcus and we and the FBI wish, is that this is a keepsake," he said. "That 15, 20 years from now the photo album is opened up and there are little fingerprints there and it becomes a keepsake -- that it's never needed."

Thomas was called to the podium to give a brief statement -- Gov. Ritter would announce just afterwards that "it's something to stand behind Marcus -- the lights kind of go out when he stands at the podium. You can't see much in front of him."

Dressed in a suit and battling a bit of a cold, Thomas was a man of few words.

"It's a great thing, just to help all these kids," he said.

"As long as I'm in the NFL, I want to keep giving back."