america. a long, meandering lifeline. feeding imaginations. the mississippi river gave us tom sawyer, and huckleberry finn. samuel clemens and mark twain grew up in hannibal, mystery. just across the river, quincy illinois, lived another larger than life character. curtis lovelace. a small town kid wanted to be a star. four-time, he was. football champion for the university of illinois. >> he's an all american? >> yeah, all american. >> this is luxury kids dream. about >> right. he >> was living the life. >> it was looking like he'd go to the nfl, and that was a dream of his. >> then he realized grander emissions. fighting crime is a prosecutor. serving his country in the national guard, and his community in politics. >> i want meaningful work, and it's going to make a difference in the lives of people. >> but it was what happened in