At a glance

WHAT: Pros 2 Youth memorabilia auction

WHEN: July 1 to 15

WHERE: www.facebook.com/Pros2Youth

DETAILS: Tracy High graduate and Indianapolis Colts player Matt Overton will auction three footballs signed by his Colts teammates to raise money for local youth football players.

Now that Tracy High graduate Matt Overton has joined the National Football League’s Indianapolis Colts, he has some high-profile teammates to help him get more children into youth football.

After three years with the United Football League, plus an opportunity with the Seattle Seahawks at the start of the 2010 season, Overton has worked his way onto the Colts roster.

He has enlisted fellow rookie player Andrew Luck, the Colts’ new quarterback and the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick from Stanford University, and the team’s 17-year veteran kicker, Adam Vinatieri, to help with his Pros 2 Youth effort.

Luck signed two footballs and Vinatieri signed one so that Overton, a special teams center for the Colts, could raise money for Pros 2 Youth, the nonprofit he formed three years ago to support youth football leagues and help kids afford to participate.

In the three weeks Overton has between NFL training camps, he is determined to see how much money those and other auction items can raise through his Pros 2 Youth Facebook page.

“My goal is to provide scholarships for four kids this fall,” Overton said. “Opening up on Facebook is just going to open up the opportunity to get a larger audience … to spread the awareness of Pros 2 Youth and what it stands for, and how it’s going to benefit the Tracy community.”

Youth teams charge about $300 to sign up a player for a season, and Pros 2 Youth is Overton’s way of lightening those costs. His auction this year will raise money specifically to pay fees for players whose families can’t afford it.

Players can be from any of the four local programs: Junior Bulldogs, Cougars, Buccaneers and Panthers.

In 2010 and 2011, Overton brought some of his UFL and NFL teammates to Tracy High’s Wayne Schneider Stadium to meet with youth players, sign autographs and raffle off sports collectibles.

He had hoped to get fellow NFL rookies Amini Silatolu of the Carolina Panthers and Stanley Arukwe of the Arizona Cardinals, both from West High, together for an event this year, but their schedules didn’t coincide in the narrow window of opportunity between NFL camps.

“I just felt that it was awesome to see Stanley and Amini get picked up by the NFL and to have three guys represent Tracy,” Overton said.

Overton, 26, has played football since the age of 8, starting with the Tracy Raiders, now the Junior Bulldogs.

He played for Tracy High, and after graduating in 2003, he went on to play football at Diablo Valley College and Western Washington University before the Seahawks invited him to a training camp in 2007.

He has also played in the Cascade Football League and National Indoor Football League.

He joined the UFL’s Florida Tuskers in 2009 and then played for the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks.

Overton was at a free agent when he worked out for the Arizona Cardinals in March when he met Colts assistant special teams coach Brant Boyer.

“A few days later they called me, and flew me out the following week,” Overton said. “I had a really good workout in front of the coaching staff, the front office and the general manager.”

He signed a three-year contract, pending the finalization of the 53-man roster in late August or early September. He and 13-year veteran Justin Snow are the two long-snappers on the team, and Overton said his workouts with the experienced players are making him a better player each day.

“It’s a great situation and opportunity,” he said. “With the experience I’ve gained over the past couple of years, I’m in the best position to compete in training camp and give my all.”



At a glance WHAT: Pros 2 Youth memorabilia auction

WHEN: July 1 to 15

WHERE: www.facebook.com/Pros2Youth

DETAILS: Tracy High graduate and Indianapolis Colts player Matt Overton will auction three footballs signed by his Colts teammates to raise money for local youth football players.