The Sports Xchange

Peyton Manning helped out a grieving family in Indiana with an inspirational gesture, sending them an autographed photo and a handwritten letter as they try to recover from losing a loved one killed by a drunk driver.

Logan Brown, 15, of Evansville, Ind., was killed in March in a head-on-collision with another car driven by a man whose blood alcohol content was four times the legal limit. Tuesday would have been Logan’s 16th birthday.

Gayle Ricketts wrote to Manning, the former Indianapolis Colts quarterback now with the Denver Broncos, to share her grandson’s story.

“As a grandmother I felt like I should let Peyton know this young man idolized him and what he meant in his life,” Ricketts told WFIE-TV in Indianapolis.

A package came in the mail from Manning on what would have been the teenager’s birthday. Inside was a hand-written letter and an autographed photo of Manning with “In memory of Logan Allen Brown.”

“It blew me away,” Ricketts told the TV station. “I called Charles (Brown, Logan’s father) when the letter came. I didn’t even open it. I called Charles to come over. I said the Broncos answered me.”

Ricketts said Logan Brown stayed a loyal fan of Manning’s after he left Indianapolis for Denver. The family had taken Logan to a Colts game and had planned a trip to see Manning play with the Broncos.

“And I know Logan is up there looking down. He’s smiling. I think he will be happy,” Ricketts said. Logan’s father said the gesture from Manning is more than just a birthday gift.

“To take the time to send something back to a situation in Evansville, Indiana that he probably doesn’t know anything about,” Charles Brown told WFIE-TV. “It’s important to see that they’re humans and for these other kids to see you never forget where you come from.”