“There are a lot of reasons why you can stick in the NFL and a lot why you can get out,” said Ruegamer, who’s in his second season as an offensive lineman with the New York Giants. “You need the right combination of luck, hard work and smarts. You have to know what you’re doing and how to do it. Right now, I can play any position on the offensive line and I know everybody’s job. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re not going to be good no matter what you do.

“You must be physically fit, keep your body fresh and know your role in the system. If you’re a journeyman guy like me, you don’t expect to get accolades like Jeremy Shockey. If I go in and play a few games for an injured starter, I have to know my role and accept it.”

Ruegamer was a four-year starter at Arizona State and, as a senior, was voted to the Walter Camp All-America Team and earned first team All-Pac 10 honors as a center. He also played on the Sun Devils’ 1996 Rose Bowl team and on the 1997 squad, with the late Pat Tillman, that went 9-3. But the fact he even was drafted is something he still reflects on with a bit of amazement.

“I was fortunate to be drafted by Miami in the third round,” he said. “Going from making $525 a month to a sizeable check was unbelievable. This transition alone was great, to be able to help out your parents and pay the rent. “The biggest surprise was getting paid for living a dream.”

Ruegamer’s career has taken him from Miami to New England to Green Bay and now to the Giants. In fact, he was blocking when Adam Vinatieri kicked the field goal that gave the Patriots a victory over the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. But that’s one of the few times he’s been in the harsh glare of the spotlight that engulfs some NFL players.

“As an offensive lineman you want to go out and mash some heads, play the game and then be left alone,” he said. “As a group, you generally hang out together. We’re not the type who talk loud and seek the limelight.”

Without question Ruegamer liked what he was doing at ASU, one reason being it helped him mature as a person and as an athlete.

“At ASU, basically you had to grow up,” he said. “Being an 18-year-old kid, to come into school and be a football player, you were accountable to the team, coaches and teammates. It was a learning curve. You grew up having expectations … ‘You have to do this because we’re depending on you.’”

Besides playing in the Rose Bowl, Ruegamer still relishes the fact he met his future wife, Laurie, the “support system” he had at ASU (“Guys had your back on and off the field.”), and the friends he made, including Tillman.

“Unfortunately, you never realize what you have until it’s gone,” Ruegamer said. “Anytime you saw Pat he was very personable with everybody. He was a very unique individual and probably was one of the only dudes who knew where he wanted to be four years after college.

“Unfortunately, things happened like they did and a lot of animosity built up. But I’m very grateful for the experiences I had with him. There’s never going to be another Pat. He taught people how to live life and hold yourself accountable when things get tough.”

Long ago, Ruegamer developed an affinity for young people who’ve encountered tough times in their lives. As a result, he’s been involved in a list of charitable endeavors that would stretch from goal line to goal line if itwere laid out on a football field.

For example: in 2003, while with Green Bay, he founded Ruegy’s Readers (the Web site is www.RuegysReaders.com) whose mission is to create well-rounded students through literacy by providing additional support to public and private school elementary students; this year, along with Giants quarterback Eli Manning, and in conjunction with the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, he participated with BGS Partners (a world-wide brokerage firm) in the third annual Global Charity Day that raised more than $6 million for charities; he’s worked with a program in Boston to clothe inner-city children; and he’s worked with organizations like the Salvation Army, the YMCA and D.A.R.E. plus events that benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“When I was at ASU, I saw how kids and people looked up to athletes,” Ruegamer said. “One well-known guy on the [football] team was asked for an autograph by a little kid and he flat-out denied the kid. That was one thing that didn’t click with me. He could have made the kid’s whole week.

“People who taught me the work ethic also taught me to remember where you came from...that everything comes full circle. I give back because it’s the right thing to do. I don’t expect anything in return.”

As much as anything, he relishes Rugeys Readers, which was established at Elmore Elementary School in Green Bay.

“The school didn’t have a lot of money and was in a blue-collar area,” Ruegamer said. “I started out buying books for kids who needed to read. If students met certain criteria we got them tickets to Packers’ home games.

“When you see the kids, their expressions and their appreciation, it holds you in awe. It’s refreshing to know you can influence them in school. If I can affect one kid at a school then I feel I’ve done my job.”