By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor

The alarm goes off, the sun is rising and, just like every other Sunday, most students at ACU are either sleeping in or getting ready for church.

But while the ACU community spends their Sundays in beds or church buildings, one former Wildcat is living out his dream in front of 100,000 fans at the historic Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill.

Sunday, NFL rookie Danieal Manning will have his first opportunity to play in front of a Chicago home crowd when the Chicago Bears take on the Detroit Lions in their second game of the 2006 season. For the former Wildcat though, it’s the same game he’s been playing his whole life.

“It’s all the same,” Manning said. “If you put your all into it, you’ll never fail. If you put your best foot forward, something good will come.”

Manning’s best foot was forward at Lambeau field Sept. 10 when he began his NFL regular season NFL career by intercepting a pass from future hall of fame quarterback Brett Favre. Although he didn’t play until the second half, Manning’s interception helped the Bears shut out the Packers 28-0 in their first game of the season.

The magnitude of his first professional pick-off didn’t hit him until he was on the bus leaving another good play, doing what he loves. But he didn’t think that the quarterback was a Super Bowl MVP and 16-year veteran.

“During that play I was just doing my responsibility,” Manning said. “The ball went in the air, and I went up for a pick; I wasn’t really thinking about who threw it.”

The opportunity to play in his first regular season game came after he was substituted for starting free safety Chris Harris.

Manning’s dream of playing professional football began when he was a boy tossing a ball around in Corsicana, he said.

“Everyday I’ve got to go to work for eight hours a day,” Manning said. “But I enjoy doing it because I’m living my dream.”

But his dream did not come easily.

After being recruited out of high school by Nebraska, Manning left Division I football to play for a struggling program at ACU. Manning never gave up on his childhood dream and relied on his never-say-die work ethic to gain the attention of professional scouts.

“Football is played the same way no matter where it is,” Manning said. “And if you’re good enough, they will find you; if it wasn’t made to be, I would have just moved on.”

Even though Manning admits that playing in Abilene instead of Nebraska was difficult for the safety with big dreams, looking back he wouldn’t change a thing.

“It was rough in Abilene because I wanted to be at the next level,” Manning said. “But I didn’t know what road God wanted me to go through so I had to learn something on the way to coming to the next level.”

Although he has had trouble adapting to the lifestyle and demand of being a professional athlete, through interaction with his teammates Manning has learned he’s not the first man to confront struggles.

“A lot of people think they are the only ones going through something and nobody else has done it,” Manning said. “But some of these guys are going through similar situations, and if they got through it I can do it.”

Manning has not forgotten his fans and friends still at ACU in fact he admits that without the large support from ACU he would not have made it where he is today.

“At ACU I made some special friends and learned how to be a man,” Manning said.