Mini-gallery: Orange is the new color at Charles’ camp
Published 4:43 pm Saturday, June 10, 2017
Seeing kindergarten-through-12th grade youngsters fly across the Memorial High practice field Saturday didn’t seem strange to the director of the JC28 Jamaal Charles Football Camp.
“Not really because that’s the business,” Derrick Scott said. “NFL is ‘Not For Long’, as some people call it.
“Really, it’s the Chiefs’ loss. Jamaal Charles is still a great player. He still has a bunch more years left in him. Bad for the Chiefs, good for the Broncos.”
Charles’ camp at his alma mater took on different colors this year to reflect his recent arrival in Denver. The camp didn’t have as much star power as last year’s event when Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas and Kansas City running back Charcandrick West helped out, but a new Bronco showed up along with his college teammate.
“I appreciate Jamaal for having me out here so I can see how things are done and how to be professional and how to give back, things like that,” Broncos rooke cornerback Brendan Langley said.
Langley was drafted in the third round by the Chiefs after an All-America season at Lamar. He and Lamar cornerback Rodney Randle Jr. helped out with a drill.
Langley said he talks with Charles “here and there,” though they play on opposite sides of the ball. Charles is a running back.
“I see him in the locker room, and I pick his head about some things,” Langley said. “So, it’s just a blessing to be going through this process. And then, to have him along for the ride, it’s that much easier.”
This was the eighth year for the camp, which drew about 170 youths. Charles, who was in attendance, brought back the camp a day after signing copies of the Sean Jensen-authored “The Middle School Rules of Jamaal Charles” at the Museum of the Gulf Coast.
Scott said it wasn’t as challenging to organize this year’s camp, although Charles didn’t sign with a team until May after the Chiefs cut him in February.
“This is an annual deal,” Scott said. “All [Charles] has to do is put it on his social media and put a little bit in the media, and kids show up. They love him around here. He’s well-known.
“With more months [to organize], you may have two or three hundred more kids, but we did market it and promote it. It’s a great turnout.”
Scott believes with the wide range in age group at the camp, the children will benefit from many “hidden” life lessons, as he termed it, in the sport.
“We definitely pull life lessons out of football and try to give the kids something that’s going to motivate them for the rest of their lives,” he said.
I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews
**CORRECTS the number of years the camp has been held**