The earliest memories former NC State cornerback (1990-93) Dewayne Washington has of his grandmother, Elease Castle, were centered around just how much time she spent helping people, volunteering her time because someone asked.

After the hard work was done in the tobacco fields near Georgetown, S.C., she would still make time to head to her church for a meeting, to make a meal for someone in need or slip a few dollars into the hand of someone who had hit hard times.

"She might work 10 or 12 hours, but if there was something that needed to be done at the church, she would go home, fix herself up and then go do it," Washington says.

"It's something that she showed me from the day I was born. She didn't have much, but her door was always open and she was always willing to help others."

Washington didn't have a lot growing up as the son of a single mother in Durham. But through football, he stayed clear of the roughest parts of what was then a rough city.

He came to NC State to play football under Dick Sheridan and was a three-year starter for the Wolfpack defense, leading the team in interceptions his senior year.

A first-round pick of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings in the 1994 draft, Washington made a good living in his 12 years as a defensive back with the Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings.

Ever since he had enough to give, he's shared with his alma mater, his community and his family. He began contributing to the Wolfpack Club soon after he was drafted, figuring he should help pay for someone's scholarship, just as countless other donors helped him and his teammates.

"It's in my DNA," he says.

Throughout his playing career, he ran clinics for kids back in the Triangle and set up his own foundation. He returned to NC State in 2001 to finish off his degree in multidisciplinary studies, which he sees as perhaps his greatest personal achievement.

"It's the thing I am most proud of, because it had nothing to do with how fast I could run or how well I could play football," Washington says. "It was about what I could accomplish. And that was very gratifying."

Shortly after he retired in 2006, he formed D. Washington Group LLC, a construction and development company that has helped revitalize downtown Durham, where he once roamed as a kid.

"It used to be so dark and depressing, and now it is so vibrant," he says. "There is so much going on. It just goes to show you that there is always hope. You can always build something new and make things better."

Recently, after three years as an assistant coach at Raleigh's Ravenscroft High School, he was named the head football coach at Heritage High School in Wake Forest. He hired former Wolfpack All-America wide receiver and Super Bowl champion Torry Holt as an assistant.

He has also made sure to get involved at NC State, where he set up the Dewayne and Adama Washington Scholarship Endowment and the Washington's Multipurpose Room Fund. He began serving on various boards, starting with the Varsity Club, then moving to the Alumni Association board of directors, the University Foundation Board and the Board of Visitors. This spring, he was named to the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame Election Committee.

"Getting back involved with NC State after my years in the NFL was really a no-brainer," he says. "I wanted to be involved in any way possible."

In July, he received a phone call from Chancellor Randy Woodson, asking if he would like to become a member of the NC State Board of Trustees, the university's governing body.

It's a rare honor for any graduate and one rarely filled in the last half century by former athletes. The last football player to serve on the board was 1960s-era offensive lineman Steve Warren.

"When I got that call, I was just like 'Wow,'" Washington says. "Just looking around the room in that first meeting, being a kid from the streets of Durham, I was just very, very humbled.

"It's definitely something to be proud of."

Former football assistant coach Joe Pate, who recruited Washington along with teammate Carl Reeves from Durham's Northern High School, couldn't be prouder of Washington's accomplishments, though he is hardly shocked.

"Even back then, he was someone who went out and worked hard every day, someone who made the most out of every bit of his talent," Pate says. "He never took a day off. I don't ever remember him missing a drill, or an assignment, or any requirement that he had.

"He was someone we knew would be special very early on."

About 12 percent of the Wolfpack Club's membership is made up of former athletes, but it's relatively rare for a former professional athlete to be so active in both the Wolfpack Club and other volunteer activities on campus. Washington has always been an exception.

"Dewayne has always been a great person as well as a great athlete," says Wolfpack Club executive director Bobby Purcell.

"He remained involved at NC State even after he left and had a lengthy career in the NFL. He stayed involved and stayed in touch. He was just a classy guy who will be a great trustee.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of him."

For Washington, the opportunity to serve a three-year term on the university's most important governing body is just another chance to show his kids and the kids he's now working with as a high school football coach that they overcome any obstacle to be a success.

"There is always hope," he says. "That's the message I've always tried to get across to young people. It doesn't matter your situation or your circumstance. It doesn't matter where you are from. What's important is where you are going.

"They may have heard those things multiple times, but when they see someone like me standing in front of them that exemplifies that, hopefully it becomes more real to them. Showing them that is always my goal."