July 22
July 22, 2008
Medric J. "Spud" Auenson
July 24, 2008
The 40-yard dash. A five-yard hitch. Punt return drills and defensive back development in the scorching heat.
Perhaps one would expect to see those drills at an NFL training camp next week, but not so much at a high school football camp.
However, that’s what 150 local high school football players experienced Friday as part of the 1st annual Pro Football Combine held at Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium.
The day-long event brought former LSU Tigers and current NFL players defensive end Jarvis Green (Patriots), wide receiver Skyler Green (Saints), defensive back Randall Gay (Saints), defensive end Howard Green (Seahawks), tight end Keith Zinger (Falcons), linebacker Cameron Vaughn (Falcons) and cornerback Travis Daniels (Dolphins) to Thibodaux to help out high school representatives from every school in the Tri-parish area.
Former LSU punter Patrick Fisher, quarterback Marcus Randall and New Orleans VooDoo safety Norman LeJeune also offered their assistance along with former E.D. White and current Tulane center Michael Parenton.
Jarvis, who was born in Thibodaux before moving and attending Donaldsonville High School, said he enjoys coming home. This camp was his chance to not only come home but give back as well.
“To have 150 kids here for the first year is remarkable,” he said. “It’s an honor to be back together with my old teammates doing this. But it’s hot. I’ve gotten accustomed to the heat in the Northeast which is nothing like this, but I still enjoyed being here.”
Skyler, who showed up at the camp wearing a purple, long-sleeve Under Armour shirt under his camp T-shirt, didn’t mind the heat if it meant giving back.
“It’s south Louisiana, so by now I’m used to this,” he said. “We are out here for the kids. We want to give them something to remember, and I think we’ve done just that.”
The camp was put on by Elias Sports Management, which represents former Tigers in the league. Albert Elias, president of the agency, said he had the idea to have a camp for some time. He didn’t know what the reaction would be right away; by the end of the day Friday, he was impressed.
“We ran out of food,” Elias said chuckling. “I was hoping for a good response but this was tremendous. It’s a very unique camp being run like a combine. We have world champions and national champions out here; it’s all these kids can ask for.”
While the heat was often times unbearable, the participants in the camp didn’t mind putting that aside to learn from the pros.
“All of the coaches are really down to earth,” Vandebilt Catholic sophomore quarterback Douglas Chauvin said. “I know I still have a lot of work to do but I got a lot out of it just by watching these guys. It’s definitely helping me out.”
Cornerbacks Chad Fletcher (Thibodaux) and Jovi Billiot (South Lafourche) were among a number of corner backs working with Daniels, Gay and Lejeune.
Coming into the camp neither said they knew what to expect, but believed the training would make them better. Both said they left camp more aware of certain aspects of the sport, mainly the amount of work that goes into doing something right.
“They work us hard, but it’s fun,” Fletcher said. “There are a lot of guys out here that have a lot of potential. I’m just glad to have NFL players out here to help us out. Hopefully, I can take this and carry it onto the field for Thibodaux.”
Billiot noted that although he spent each of his last three years as a Tarpon developing his game, he still learned tips that would help him this senior year.
“I learned some totally different things than I did in the past,” he said. “I feel like I’ve learned something about my game that I didn’t understand before I came to the camp.”
The camp coaches enjoyed the opportunity to catch up just as much as the players. Daniels said being in Thibodaux with all of his former teammates was almost like a “family reunion.”
“The LSU family runs deep and being out here with these guys brought back some memories,” he said. “It was about the kids all day, but I think we got just as much joy out of it as they did. We tried to give the kids some encouragement and show them different techniques, things they may have not known about. They really seemed to get a lot out of it.”
Now that the “experimental” first year is complete, Elias is making plans to bring the camp back to campus. He had hoped to make this an annual thing and, based on what he saw, it appears that will likely happen.
“When I was driving here there was a kid walking on the side of the road and he looked like he was coming to the camp by the way he was dressed,” he explained. “I pulled over and asked if he needed a ride. He said ‘Yes.’ I found out he walked four miles from his house to come. That says it all.”
Elias added, “Stories like that is what I intended this camp to be about – the kids. They seemed to really look up to these guys. Only next year, I hope to have more food.”
Former LSU Tiger and current Atlanta Falcon linebacker Cameron Vaughn and Terrebonne High head coach Gary Hill perform option drills with local high school linebackers at the NFL Combine Camp held at Nicholls State Friday. * Photo by KYLE CARRIER
