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Michigan senior Devin Gardner will play his final game at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, and he'll leave a legacy that goes beyond football.

(Melanie Maxwell | MLive.com)

ANN ARBOR -- Chances are, you might eventually look back on Devin Gardner's time at Michigan and only see the negative.

The interceptions. The losses. Injuries. And an inability to deliver a championship.

Maybe, in five years' time, that's all you remember about 6-foot-4, 216-pound quarterback from Detroit, who will play his final game at Michigan Stadium on Saturday.

Maybe that's all that matters to you. Maybe you'll look back and see a kid who never quite lived up to his extreme potential.

You'd be wrong.

And there are a few people who might tell you that. They've met Gardner, and have come to realize that football is only a small portion of a genuine, selfless, caring person who has done far more good than bad during his years in Ann Arbor.

Take 15-year-old Elizabeth, for example.

Elizabeth is what's unfortunately referred to as a "frequent flyer" at Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, one of the country's foremost pediatric facilities. At this point, Elizabeth spends roughly one week per month inside a hospital room, receiving treatment.

One Thursday not so long ago, she met Gardner.

Like many Michigan players over the years, Gardner has made Thursday night visits to Mott part of his weekly routine. He takes time away from his hectic schedule and spends a few hours each week trying to brighten the day of a sick child. On more than one occasion, he's explained how he gets more from these visits than the kids do, as their courage and spirit often motivate and inspire him to push forward.

But on several other occasions, Gardner gives them as much as he can in return.

Devin Gardner's impact on the Michigan community and surrounding area will be something many remember for a long while.

So when Elizabeth recently asked Gardner if he might be able to swing by Mott's Save a Heart event, which supports the hospital's Congenital Heart Center, he said yes. And last Saturday, when Michigan was on its bye week, Gardner spent his free time making someone else's day.

And he did more than just swing by.

"I thought he'd just do a little stop by and say hey, but he spent the entire night with her," recalled Ann Kay, a fundraiser organizer for the hospital. "He was unbelievable. Awesome. He didn't have to do any of that, and he could've just done a quick stop by and it would've been terrific, but he was there for hours.

"You should've seen him with this little girl. He just wandered around with her the whole night, hung out just with her. It was very impressive. ... It was like she was the Homecoming Queen or something. It was unbelievable."

Bonnie Billups Jr. qualifies as someone else who would call you foolish if you think Gardner's impact on the Michigan community starts and stops with football.

Billups serves as the executive director of Ann Arbor's Peace Neighborhood Center, a local non-profit organization that strives to help children and families impacted by social and economic problems.

This summer, Billups sat down to interview Gardner for an internship. A second-year graduate student in Michigan's school of social work, Gardner is required to complete a placement internship with a social work agency.

Billups had worked with Michigan student-athletes in the past. Some of them did well. Some of them didn't.

But none of them were Gardner.

"He's one of the most genuine young men that I know," Billups says. "He is truly an upright, classy, young man. He's a man who sets a good example, always. I was surprised at his maturity and his desire to achieve greatness and to be an example. Not many people take being an example as seriously as Devin does.

"He exceeded all expectations. We weren't concerned with the hoopla with Michigan football for him, we were concerned if he would be a good example, if he would work hard and bring something to the table for the kids and the families we work with. He's done that. He continues to do that."

Devin Gardner often has a smile on his face.

During his time with PNC over the summer, Gardner helped run programs that taught young boys the value of teamwork and decision-making. He worked with teenagers to stress the importance of setting life goals for their future.

He took out the trash, loaded up charity vans and did every other task that was asked.

"The kids first meet him and they see Devin Gardner the football player, but they get past that real quick and get to know Devin the person," Billups says. "And that's what's key."

Football is only a small part of Gardner's impact on Michigan, and the surrounding community. A very small part.

He's donated his time for food drives and athletic camps. He's pitched in at Michigan's women's football academy and its Michigan Men's Football Experience, a benefit for prostate cancer research.

While researching a feature story on Gardner this summer, I spoke to Calvin Norman, who was Gardner's pee-wee coach with the West Side Steelers in Detroit. When I asked Norman if Gardner still swings by to see any of the kids, the answer came quickly.

"Whenever he can," Norman recalled.

We hear so much about the importance of being a "Michigan Man" within this university's athletic community, with the exact definition of what that means dependent on who you talk to.

But no matter how you interpret the phrase, Gardner qualifies as a shining example.

He's a finalist for this year's Senior CLASS football award, given annually to the most "total student-athlete," on and off the field. He should win it. And if he doesn't, I'd like to meet the guy who beats him.

On the field, things haven't gone the way Gardner envisioned when he became the team's full-time starting quarterback at the end of the 2012 season. He's struggled with injuries and with turnovers. He's also been forced to wade through off-field adversity he has nothing to do with.

The guy's played for three different offensive coordinators, two head coaches and he's been asked to line up at two separate positions. Yet, through it all, he's never stopped giving everything he has.

Not to his team, and not to his community.

"I'm becoming a man here, and I thank God for this adversity," Gardner said earlier this season. "I'm becoming a better man."

He's already a better man. Better than most.

And that's a legacy to be proud of.

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