Step away from the TV. Put the iPhones up. Lose all cellular devices. Today. Like, right now. Do you have any idea how many brain cells you’re losing from staring dully at a screen all day long? Don’t even get me started on your brain’s night-time count. You probably won’t really need the attention arresting electronics, given what’s happening over at the Memphis football field, lately.
You could say that Memphis didn’t meet certain expectations last season. But sporting a just-above-average regular season conference record doesn’t have to stop the team from making an influential difference in the offseason.
It would see that the university’s coaches and football players find themselves in total concurrence all the way across the board.
Not four days ago, there were about 100 children from local communities scattered across the field at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. They were taking pictures with sophomore running back Doroland Dorceus, or trying to evade tackles from senior quarterback Jason Stewart.
It was all part of the second annual “Hope to Dream” event. The children participated in an on-field football camp with head coach Mike Norvell and more than a dozen Memphis football players listed on the immediate program roster.
The Memphis football program & Ashley HomeStore teamed up to give 100 kids a memorable morning at the Liberty Bowl: https://t.co/t2WYLOZYSc
— Tom Schad (@Tom_Schad) May 14, 2016
When the camp was over, the coaches, football players and children all congregated inside the neighboring Pipkin Building for a standard pizza party. Or, so they thought at the time. Each child was then surprised with a brand new bed set, courtesy of Ashley HomeStore.
The children who did not have a bed of their own were given brand new twin mattresses, sheets, comforters and pillows.
The football camp stressed fair play, good sportsmanship, the growth of self-esteem, responsibility and hopefully upped the children’s skill development. Just to name a few. It also got about 100 young athletes out of the virtual world they live in all day, and most of the night for a few hours. That doesn’t hurt.
“Any time we are able to have kids in the neighborhood or in the community come out and have the opportunity to spend some time with our boys,” coach Norvell said. “It’s just really great to see our players giving back.”
Per The Commercial Appeal, the children that came out wore blue T-shirts with the words “Dream Big” in bold front, rotated from station to station on the field, practicing tackling, catching and punting.
Punter Evan Michael supervised a kicking station. Children weaved through cones in another one.
Tight end Daniel Montiel played quarterback in one drill, while Stewart tried – yes, he tried — to tackle the children after they had caught the football.
Okay. So Stewart’s tackling isn’t up to par with the national average. Let’s just keep our chinstraps buckled. That boy’s a quarterback. Not a rover.
“We talk a lot about service. I think you could see it in the children’s faces, just the appreciation and the excitement that they have for Tigers football and the players that we have in our program,” Norvell said.
“It’s such a blessing, to be honest with you. To have the opportunity to do something like this,” junior tight end Daniel Montiel said.
That’s called making a statement in the neighboring community. That’s also called making a meaningful statement in the lives of the children who live there. It just got real in the AAC West division.
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