By LARRY VAUGHT

His numbers aren’t like the ones he had at Kentucky, but former University of Kentucky star Jacob Tamme has found a way to make himself a valuable member of the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts in his second professional season.
After catching three passes in 2008, Tamme has only one catch in eight games this year. However, he has played in every game and had two special-teams tackles against both Seattle and St. Louis.
He’s also staying active in the community and was involved in a family reading night earlier this week in Indianapolis.
Tamme had 97 receptions for 1,866 yards and 32 touchdowns at Boyle and intercepted 23 passes. At Kentucky, he had 133 catches — second in Southeastern Conference history for tight ends — for 1,417 yards.
He also was one of 15 finalist for the 2007 Draddy Trophy, which is presented to the top scholar athlete in the country, was named the SEC scholar-athlete of the year and was the 2007 recipient of the Bobby Bowden Award, a national honor presented by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
The Colts host New England on Sunday into a possible AFC championship preview. Tamme offered these insights on his season and life in the NFL during a break in his game preparation.

Question: What has this season been like for you since you have had to battle through a few injuries?
Tamme: “This season has been great, I’ve been relatively healthy and have contributed every game on special teams and have played a little offense. I’d love to be out there on offense more often, but I’m working hard to be ready when my number is called. I’m working hard in practice and becoming a better NFL player.”

Question: Is year two overall easier than year one in the NFL, or is anything ever easy about the NFL?
Tamme: “Year two has been a somewhat easier because you have a year of experience under your belt. There are very few professions where having done it for a year wouldn’t make it at least a little easier. For example, I’m more prepared this year for what Week 10 will feel like than I was last year. I understand better how to stay prepared for the games even though I may not be getting a lot of plays on offense. I understand the special teams aspect of the game better and I’m taking a lot of pride in my role there. Overall, I feel like I have improved as a professional, improved at my trade, and if I continue doing that I’ll be fine.”

Question: When do you develop your long-snapping skills?
Tamme: “I worked hard this offseason to become an NFL-caliber long-snapper. I had fooled around with it some the past two years and was our backup at times last year, but its one of those things that just takes rep after rep after rep until it’s ingrained in your muscle memory. That’s what I did this offseason. Snapping in some preseason games was great for me to get some live experience in case I ever need to do it.

Question: How did your recent visit to UK go, and what did you say to the coaches and players?
Tamme: “Getting back to Lexington was great. I hadn’t gotten to watch an actual practice since I left, so that was fun. Seeing some of the guys and the coaches and getting to catch up was the best part. I just wanted to remind the team how important Kentucky football is and let them know that they’ve got guys all around the country (and all around the NFL) watching/listening/keeping up however they can every single week.
“It was encouraging because I think a lot of guys understand that its a privilege to play for UK. They understand how important it is that the program continue upward, and they’re playing hard every week.”

Question: Have you been able to keep up with your Boyle County Rebels this year, and is it true you are making a donation to help put turf on the field for next year?
Tamme: “I have been keeping up with the Rebels every single week and have seen a lot of scores that are pretty impressive. A lot of good players and good coaches. They’ve put together a great season and it’ll be fun to see where it goes.
“As far as the field, I heard a rumor that there were rumors — ha ha. Only being a year and a half into a career, it’d be tough to make a donation of any sizable amount to help with something like that right now.”

Question: How did endorsement with Bluegrass Community Bank in Danville come about?
Tamme: “Some folks with Bluegrass Community Bank contacted me to see if I had interest in working with them, so I did some research and learned about the people behind it and their plan for the bank and felt really comfortable with them.”

Question: How are you just enjoying life in Indianapolis and what is your wife, Allison, doing now to keep her busy?
Tamme: “Life in Indy is great. We have found some good eating spots and are learning our way around the city. Right now we’re living in a small, sort of rural area with a lot of farmland so that’s nice. Allison has started a business called Allie Rae’s Boutique. She has been very busy with that, putting together a Web site, etc. www.allieraesboutique.com — shameless plug. She has a great business mind and she’s very good at making the products she sells so its a perfect fit.”

Question: What continues to be the best part about being a NFL player?
Tamme: “Simply playing in the NFL is a blessing, so realizing how rare it is to get to do this is humbling. Playing at the top level of one of the best games in the world is a pretty neat thing. It means you are playing against other people that are also the best in the world every week. It is a great, great challenge and it is a constant competition, so I enjoy that.”

Question: Do you continue to learn just from being around guys like Peyton Manning, Dallas Clark, et cetera?
Tamme: Definitely. There are a lot of vets on this team that you can learn from almost every day. It’s funny how after just one year, you become a guy who has “been around/been there” to some of the rookies. But I am always learning from the guys who have been around six, seven or 10 years. That’s the type of career everyone wants.

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