"2001 Between the Lines" is a series of columns by Magazine writers looking back at small, but significant, moments in sports.

I saved only one sports relic from this past year.

It's page 42 from a July issue of The Magazine, torn out and tacked to the wall behind my desk at home. It's our letters page, "The Post," and it features a picture of the Kobe Bryant cover and assorted reader comments about that and other pieces.

The last letter on the page is from Travis R. Young of Kalamazoo, Mich., who wrote a response to my story titled "Daylight", which ran in the June 11 edition.

It was a feature on Jermaine Lewis. The Ravens' kick returner extraordinare somehow found the strength to rise above the sudden death of his infant son Geronimo to create a loving and lasting legacy for his child with, among other feats, an eye-popping 84-yard kick return for a touchdown that sealed Super Bowl XXXV for Baltimore.

When Lewis reached the end zone, he pointed toward the sky, but this time it was to thank God for the peace, the hope and the strength he needed to take control of his grief and honor his son. In an instant, some 700 million viewers were introduced to Geronimo Lewis, and a father's prayer was answered: His son would not be forgotten.

And certainly, somewhere in that global audience there were grieving parents -- struggling with a similar ordeal, fighting just to face each day -- who now had a role model. "Jermaine showed millions of people around the world that it is possible to get through something like this," said his wife Imara.

I was one of those grieving parents who, while still battling to face each day, drew inspiration from Jermaine's story.

So was Travis Young.

"Thanks for the touching story on Jermaine Lewis," he wrote. "This past November, I too lost my newborn to stillbirth and have since had to endure the grief of loss for me and my family. Knowing that others can emerge triumphant through these dark times provides hope to all of us who hurt so deeply. When I hit my knees at night and send a good night wish up to my little girl I now include Geronimo and all of the little angels who smile down upon us when we point to the heavens and remember them. I could not have read this story of inspiration at a better time in my life."

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How often, truthfully, do athletes get to make a real difference in people's lives?

During the past year, the more I have gotten to know Jermaine and his family, the more I have come to realize what a quiet, private and thoughtful person he is. And therefore, what an extreme act of courage and kindness it was for him to rip off the emotional scabs that had begun to heal after Geronimo's death and retell his story for our audience.

Like most people who have lost a child, that deep pocket of sorrow will always be a part of him, but Jermaine is clearly not someone who wants to be defined solely by his grief. And so I hesitated at first to make this the topic of my year-end column.

There were other topics to choose from. I was with Michael Vick at a watershed moment in his life. I witnessed the emotional strength of Takeo Spikes. I heard Torry Holt's tales from the tobacco fields. I reveled in the purity of the NAIA basketball tournament and the hilarity of Donovan McNabb.

But I don't think Jermaine Lewis ever truly grasped the magnitude of his gesture. And to me, the greatest moments in sports occur when a team or a player transcends the playing field and affect us in a way we never thought something as silly as a football game ever could. So I hope he doesn't mind one more small salute.

Simply put, Jermaine Lewis helped others.

For starters, talking to him -- not sportswriter-to-football player but father-to-father -- helped me to heal. (In August, our home was filled by the squeaky laughter of our newborn daughter, Ally Hope Fleming.)

Since the piece came out, hundreds upon hundreds of readers like Travis Young sent in e-mails and letters. Just last week, in fact, a couple came up to me at a memorial service in Charlotte and asked me to pass along a message to Jermaine very similar to the one Travis wrote: to thank him for sharing his story because it gave them the one thing they needed most during the darkest moment of their lives: Hope.

Now, I ask you, could there possibly be a better gift than that?

David Fleming is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at flemfile@aol.com.