Almost 24 million children - one in three - are likely growing up without their father involved in their lives.

I worry when athletes are simply used by their universities to produce revenue, to make money for them, nothing to show at the back end. I grew up with a lot of players who had very, very tough lives after the ball started bouncing for them. And that's why I'm going to continue to fight.

Young people know how important it is for dads to be involved in their lives. As I travel the country and talk with students, some of them tell me that their lives would be totally different if their father was around.

Whether it's in an inner-city school or a rural community, I want those students to have a chance to take A.P. biology and A.P. physics and marine biology.

Then my extended family, there are preachers and evangelists, former priests. So I have quite a bit of history with Church, religion and spirituality.

My family was pretty solidly middle-class. We had a furniture store out near Connie Mack Stadium, and when Dad died, my mom took it over.

I am a family man, and I have to find my priorities. During the season, it is to race. During the off-season, it is to spend time with my family.

As a father of two children, I am used to seeing kids in the midst of a five-alarm meltdown over the choice of DVD or the necessity of broccoli.