James Rodgers is in the midst of his best season with the Oregon State football team.

The junior wide receiver leads the Pacific-10 Conference in all-purpose yards, receptions and receiving yards.

He's an all-around athlete, but he's an all-around person, too.

Rodgers' latest accomplishment is being a published poet. He wrote a haiku for a collection of works by OSU students in the book, "Haiku for Sociologists."

"It was a great experience," Rodgers said. "I never thought about being a poet, but it helped me to write and express things."

His poem follows the haiku style of three lines, 17 syllables with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third.

The veil unleashes

"The Souls of Black Folk" like me

I'm NOT a problem!

The haiku was an assignment from Kristin Barker, an associate professor of sociology at Oregon State. She collected 100 of the best verses over the years and published them in a book.

Copies of the book are being sold for $9.95, and money raised will go to the sociology department.

"I liked doing it a lot," Rodgers said. "I would have to say the assignment gave me enough to express myself. I thought what I wrote fit really well."

Rodgers was inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois, an American civil rights activist, sociologist, historian and author. He read an essay in Du Bois' book "The Souls of Black Folk," which talked about the color line being the problem in the 20th century.

It touched him and made the assignment easy for a young black man, who is far from his home near Houston living in a primarily white area.

"He talked about being African-American was the problem," Rodgers said. "I wrote it, thinking we are not the problem. I put myself in that position and said I'm NOT the problem. That was the last line, and I think that made it really strong."

Social issues are important to Rodgers, so that brings out his creative side.

He was a keynote speaker in the spring for the Kaleidoscope of Colleges and Cultures, a program to help underrepresented minorities on campus.

"I feel real strong about those things, letting them know about things," Rodgers said. "Any time I can have an impact on someone else it's always great."

Rodgers also spent spring break working with the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde in the OSU Learning Through Excellence program. He studied Native American issues in rural Oregon communities for five days.

That's a lot of public appearances for a shy person.

"I think James is expanding his world," coach Mike Riley said. "The football world plunged him into it. I've seen him grow in so many ways, interacting with people. He's still the quiet person in general, but he is more outgoing now."

Due to his success and popularity on the football field, Rodgers frequently accepts community service requests from all over campus.

He also handles weekly media interview requests, and is part of the athletic program's marketing plan.

"I don't have a problem with anything asked of me, but it's a problem sometimes," Rodgers said. "You need time to yourself. But any time I can speak to kids or whoever, I'm going to do it."

Rodgers even made a special appearance during the bye week to read his haiku at a book release party at OSU's Valley Library. His participation was crucial in selling the book.

Riley, at times, is concerned with the extra requests made of Rodgers and his brother Jacquizz beyond football and academics.

"I remind (sports information director) Steve (Fenk) from time to time to not overburden James or Quizz, or any of our players who get a lot of notoriety," Riley said. "They are more than willing to do extra things. They have a ton of things in their life with football and school, in particular. I think James has managed to balance that pretty well. He's a pretty even-keeled guy."

Spending three years at OSU has changed Rodgers. He has grown as a person, and has turned into a pretty good football player, too.

The balance makes him who he is.

"I felt I really matured as a person," Rodgers said. "Being so far away from home makes you stronger. You don't have your parents to rely on. Being out here on my own and making grownup decisions have matured me a lot."