Name: Charlie Trotman Alma Mater: Auburn University Sport: Football Position: Quarterback Years Played: 1976-1979 Highlights: All-SEC Academic honors in 1979, MVP of the 1979 Blue-Gray game, recipient of the Cliff-Hare Award for top senior athlete at Auburn Business: The Trotman Company Inc. (property development), Montgomery, Ala.

As quarterback for Auburn University from 1976 to 1979, Trotman earned All-SEC Academic honors and was a starter for three of his four seasons. In 1979, he received the Cliff-Hare Award, which is given to the top senior athlete at AU. That same year he was also named as team captain for the Tigers and MVP of the Blue-Gray Game. During his collegiate career he was also president of the Auburn A-Club, a letterman's organization, and was inducted into Spades Honorary, which recognizes the Top 10 seniors at Auburn.

After graduating from Auburn in 1980, Trotman attended the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. He worked in retail real estate development for seven years before he decided to start his own company — The Trotman Company Inc., which he founded in Montgomery, Ala., in 1990. The main focus of the property development firm, which operates in the Southeastern United States, is on the development of shopping centers.

In the community, Trotman coaches youth teams at the YMCA and assists with fund raising for the Boy Scouts of America. He has found that many of the factors that made him successful as a quarterback also have made him successful as a small business owner.

"Many similarities exist between sports and business," says Trotman. "Both require great effort and focus to succeed, as well as a fierce determination to keep plugging, even when things look tough."