The ugly side of college football is well known. We see it too often in the newspapers and on radio and television. We see it in coaches who don't understand what it means to honor a contract. We see it in players who appear too often on the police blotter. We see it in universities that will do almost anything, including sacrificing their integrity, in their quest for winning and the revenues that accompany it.

This isn't about the ugly side of college football. It's not about the sleazy coaches, so well represented by Rich Rodriguez, or the criminal element of the playing force or even the shameless universities, which represent the worst in the college game.

This is about the good side of college football. It's about a young man who represents everything that college athletics once was supposed to be but is no more. It's about a player who is a throwback to another era, when athletes came to school to get a degree and play football and not the other way around.

It's about a young man who says, "It's a privilege to play college football."

And, no, this is not about a noble walk-on who's majoring in biochemistry or a fourth-string offensive tackle who's overcome two knee surgeries to return to the field.

This is about Scott McKillop, who stands an inch or two over 6 feet tall and weighs about 240 pounds. He's the starting middle linebacker for the Pitt football team that begins practice next week. McKillop was just another redshirt junior getting his first chance at this time last year. Some wondered if he was up to the role. No one expected him to eclipse the performance of his predecessor, All-American H.B. Blades.

McKillop delivered an astonishing season, ranging all over the field, rallying his teammates and dropping ball-carriers and receivers more often than just about anyone in the country. He led the nation with 12.6 tackles per game and was second in solo tackles with 8.2. He was the centerpiece of a defense that was fifth in the nation in yardage allowed. For all this, he was named to four All-American teams, an amazing feat for a lightly recruited player from Kiski Area High School.

But this isn't about McKillop the football player, it's about McKillop the person. It's about a young man who personifies what sports are supposed to be about and who understands how lucky he is.

McKillop comes from a good family -- his parents should be so proud -- and good schools. He's been blessed with a wonderful mind and outstanding athletic skills. He was an outstanding wrestler and a sprinter in high school. He already haas graduated from Pitt and will be working toward a second degree this season. If all goes as expected, he'll make a nice living playing in the NFL starting next year.

He understands all that and doesn't take it for granted. He appreciates what he has and, unlike so many of his peers, doesn't think anyone owes him any thing.

To the contrary, he thinks he's the one who owes.

Whether it was in high school, where he volunteered for three years as a "buddy" in a special-needs classroom, or involvement in Pittsburgh Walk Now for Autism or in going back to his school district to read to elementary school children, McKillop believes in giving back because that's what you're supposed to do.

"I'm fortunate enough to be blessed to carry on a normal life," he said the other day at the Pitt football complex on the South Side. "Kids that I help, it's not their fault. It was God's plan for them. It was the cards they were given. My cards were better. I want to do anything I can to help."

Here's the kind of young man he is.

With his selection to the Big 33 all-star football game after his senior season in high school came an invitation to bring along a friend to share the experience. McKillop brought along one of the students he had mentored in the special-needs class.

He's befriended a young child with autism. "He just lights up when he sees me," McKillop said. "That's just awesome."

He had an internship in the Pirates' marketing department during the summer of 2007. "I have never seen a student come in and make such an impact," said Chris Serkoch, the Pirates' manager of special events.

He's long had a dream of playing in the NFL. Until last season, some might have thought that far-fetched. That's why his education came first.

"You need a plan," he said. "You can't put all your eggs in one basket. I came to the University of Pittsburgh to get my degree and also to play football."

He's more than lived up to his end of the bargain. Pitt has an outstanding football player, a first-rate student and a role model for all who follow.

That's the good side of college football. Too bad there's not more like him.