Published: October 26, 2007 11:18 pm         

Ex-NFL back helping Terre Haute boy achieve his dreams

TERRE HAUTE — Former NFL running back Robin Earl said there was something “a little different” in a letter he received in June from Terre Haute eighth-grader Cole Langenfeld.

Earl, 52, who played for the Chicago Bears from 1977-1982, was in Terre Haute on Friday to kick off a fund-raiser that will send one lucky winner to the 2008 NFL Pro-Bowl in Hawaii and help Cole, whose brother Cameron “Cam” Langenfeld was killed in a bicycle accident this summer, pay for college.

Cole, a Honey Creek middle-schooler, is a defensive tackle for his school team and a big football fan and trivia buff.

After 11-year-old Cameron died – and as the medical bills began pouring in – Cole, 14, came up with the idea to send his NFL trading cards to various players and get autographs so that he could sell them and put the proceeds into a memorial fund set up to help pay funeral and medical expenses. Pam Langenfeld, Cole and Cameron’s mom, said it became Cole’s project over the summer.

“He wrote to numerous football payers basically to have those cards signed to sell to go into the fund,” she said. “He was very concerned about the number of bills.”

Cameron Langenfeld died June 1 from after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle along Fruitridge Avenue.

Earl said unlike the usual fan letters he receives, the one he got from Cole Langenfeld “absolutely hit a nerve for me.”

A typical fan letter, he said, includes one or two trading cards, the sentiment that the sender is a big fan, and a request for an autograph.

“On June 24 I got a letter from Cole … when I opened it up, there was 12 of my rookie cards in there,” Earl said with a big smile, pulling the actual letter and one of the cards out of his bag.

He added that when he read the letter, his wife was leaning over his shoulder, “and he’s telling me the story of his little brother … it just absolutely hit a nerve for me, my wife was basically in tears.

“And as I was putting some thought into everything,” Earl said, “I felt it would be a good idea – after I talked to my board members at my foundation – to include Cole in the part of the contributions that we put together every year, to put together a scholarship fund for Cole. I was just impelled to do that.

“I’ve been so blessed in my life and I like to give back as much as I can,” he said.

Earl, who owns International Profit Associates, a management consulting firm based in Buffalo Grove, Ill., also operates a not-for-profit charitable arm of the firm. The foundation raises money for various causes, from wounded soldiers to retired football players who have fallen on hard times to multiple not-for-profit organizations. The full list of charities to which IPA has contributed can be viewed online at www.ipacharities.org/list.asp.

“The motto of my foundation is ‘helping people achieve their dreams,’ ” Earl said. “We’re going to make a difference in this young man’s life.”

To raise money for the Cameron Langenfeld Memorial Fund, Earl’s foundation is raffling off a five-day, four-night, all-expenses-paid trip to the 2008 NFL Pro-Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii. The MVP Package for two includes:

• Round-trip airfare, leaving Feb. 7 and returning Feb. 11,

• Four nights lodging in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki,

• Limo to and from airport,

• Breakfast buffet each morning,

• Friday night Pro-Bowl Kickoff Reception, including entertainment and appearances by NFL players and cheerleaders,

• Saturday night NFL VIP party at the Royal Hawaiian, with drinks, food and entertainment included,

• entrance to the official NFL Pro-Bowl Tailgate Party on game day

• sideline game tickets in the lower level, shady side

• transfers to and from the game

Tickets are being sold for $25 from various locations in Terre Haute, including Pacesetter Sports and other locations to be announced. For more information on ticket locations, contact Pam Langenfeld at sportsmompam1@aol.com or at Riley Elementary. A total of 2,500 tickets are being sold.

The drawing will take place Dec. 6 at Buffalo Wild Wings in Terre Haute during halftime of the Chicago Bears vs. Washington Redskins game.

Pam Langenfeld said Earl’s efforts have been “kind of a Godsend, with all of the expenses coming in … Cole already was reconsidering where he might go to college.”

Earl said he hopes the fundraiser will “help [Cole] in his college efforts to be a very successful young man.”

Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.