Drew Bledsoe never figured he'd end up in a maximum security prison in Orofino, Idaho. Yet there he was, in July 2000, talking to inmates, many of whom faced life in prison.

He was there to speak to inmates who graduated from the "Parenting With Dignity" program run by Bledsoe's foundation. His father, Mac, who runs the program and has written two books on the subject, also came along. And during the afternoon the Bledsoes spent there, they talked very little about football.

But that's what Drew Bledsoe does. He fires footballs at receivers, wins games with a right arm they'd like to bronze at Washington State, his alma mater. Over the years, Bledsoe has acquired a Super Bowl ring and nearly 40,000 NFL passing yards, and that's entirely how he wants to be remembered.

But that's not what they honored Bledsoe for yesterday in Boise, Idaho, not what puts the Washington native in the same exclusive company as Arthur Ashe, Jackie Robinson, David Robinson and Pele.

There was little talk of football yesterday. There was talk about work in the community, about humanitarians and about Bledsoe, who was inducted — along with 1936 Olympian Louis Zamperini and three-time Olympian Kathy Kusner — into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

"I've won so many awards for what I do on the football field, but when it comes down to it, it's just a game," said Bledsoe, via cellphone after the ceremony concluded. "This is an award for making the world a better place, and when you look at it, it's so much more important."

That's what the Bledsoe family has been doing for the last seven years or so. Both of Bledsoe's parents were teachers, and over the years they developed a curriculum for raising children.

Eventually, Bledsoe challenged his parents to take their curriculum national, and since then, Bledsoe says, "it has reached a couple million families."

The success stories pour in all the time, from parents who jumped from hopeless to hopeful, from inmates who thought they'd never have a relationship with their children again, from people spread across the country.

It seems like every letter starts with the same two words: Thank you.

"This [award] is a step in the right direction," Bledsoe said. "Almost without exception, players in the NFL are involved in their communities and all of them are doing good work for the right reasons. Because they believe in it. Because it's the right thing to do. We're drawing attention to the positive things in an arena where negative things are always pointed out."

Greg Bishop: 206-464-3191 or gbishop@seattletimes.com