"With rock music reverberating in the rafters and a screaming crowd on its feet, Steven Jackson charged down the aisle Tuesday, fists pumping overhead.

"It felt like September, not March," he said.

Instead of taking the field at the Edward Jones Dome, though, Jackson stormed the altar at Assumption Catholic Church. The crowd, 468 strong, consisted of students of the parish school, and Jackson was there to salute them for finishing first in the Reading with the Rams contest, sponsored by the team and the Post-Dispatch Newspapers in Education program.

The program included more than 200 schools and 21,000 students, who earned points for reading books, magazines and newspaper articles. Assumption had the highest participation rate, topping 70 percent of the student body.

The students earned the chance to quiz Jackson and focused on his life as a sports star. When asked why he chose football, Jackson responded: "This is such a guy answer: to be able to hit someone. I thought it was better to do it through athletics."

When given the chance to deliver his own message, though, Jackson focused on his faith in God and advice he received from his parents.

"My mom and dad always made sure I had a Plan B," he said. For Jackson, that was majoring in architecture at Oregon State.

Before addressing the entire student body in church, Jackson stopped to congratulate a class of fourth graders. He shared with them the story of his second grade teacher, who determined that Jackson would never read beyond the third-grade level. With help from teachers and his parents, Jackson said, he eventually earned a 3.8 grade-point average in high school.

"Whenever someone tells you that you can't do something, use that as motivation to overcome it," he said.

His next stop was before a group of reserved seventh graders. Jackson chose to talk to them about his fear of public speaking.

"Thanks to some good teachers and my mom and dad, I overcame the fear and became an avid reader," he said. "My passion for literacy has continued."

Though he couldn't pick a favorite book, he had no trouble choosing an author."