Danny Johnston / AP

Arkansas star running back Darren McFadden has earned praise for his humility. Stardom doesn’t appear to have gone to his head.

McFadden has had plenty of reasons to be serious over the years. Muhammad talks freely about her problems with crack and marijuana, which she says she overcame after being briefly jailed in 2002 on various traffic charges.

“I was just tired, and I just told my children to let me stay in there (for a bit),” Muhammad said. “I’ve been clean ever since.”

McFadden said he wasn’t aware of his mother’s struggle at first.

“As I got older, I had suspicions and things, but I didn’t want to let her know or anything like that. So I just pretty much kept it to myself,” McFadden said. “She’s doing really great. I think she’s been clean five, six years. She’s doing great.”

Last year, Muhammad and her son shared in his newfound success, traveling to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He finished second to Ohio State’s Troy Smith.

Henson described a text message she received from McFadden during that trip.

“He texted me and said, ’I just want to thank you for everything. I love you so much,”’ she said. “I cried through the whole thing. I thought — nobody knows what a sweet kid this is.”

McFadden still comes home to central Arkansas whenever he can. He had plans to make the trip down from Fayetteville this weekend — the No. 18 Razorbacks have the weekend off before traveling to play Alabama.

McFadden was back home last year when he dislocated his toe in a fight outside a Little Rock club. Details were sketchy, but McFadden had put himself in a precarious situation — about a month before his team’s 2006 opener.

“I felt like my whole world just went down the drain,” McFadden said. “I felt like I had let the whole state down — our family, friends, things like that. They were all still supportive of me, but at the same time, I know they were very disappointed in me.”

Henson remembers the immediate aftermath.

“He was just sobbing and apologizing and apologizing,” she said. “He was sobbing when he went into surgery. He was sobbing when he came out of surgery. It took days to get him to come around.”

McFadden recovered quickly, and the injury became an afterthought as he rushed for 1,647 yards last season. That and his ability to throw when taking direct snaps from center earned him attention from the Heisman voters.

McFadden is now a junior, and his father says he’s noticed a change after last summer’s injury.

“I think he’s mellowed down a whole lot,” Graylon McFadden said.

The younger McFadden concurs.

“I guess I was a weekend person when the weekend came,” Darren McFadden admitted. “I’m not very much older, but I just feel like I’m 30 because I just like to sit back and relax. I really don’t go out much anymore.”

McFadden has earned praise for his humility. Stardom doesn’t appear to have gone to his head. Janet Forbess, a University of Arkansas faculty member, has had McFadden in several classes.

“As he has got more and more famous, he doesn’t change in the classroom,” she said.

As part of Forbess’ classes, McFadden has gone to area schools to teach physical education to kids. Working with youngsters seems a natural fit for him.

“If he can make you laugh, his day is made,” Henson said. “He’s done his job.”

Behind the scenes, McFadden leaves an impression on people that’s as memorable as one of his 60-yard runs.

“He’s a nice kid. He’s a sweet kid. He tried really hard to not be. For a long time, he didn’t want anybody to know that vulnerable side of him,” Henson said. “But when you get to know him, you know that he’s very giving. He’s a very, very giving person.”

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