Tomlin's camp about more than just football

Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin remembers the days when he was a kid taking part in a youth football camp, soaking up every piece of information the high school coaches delivered, from fundamentals to daily life lessons.

That is why he has loved the last few days, a time when he had the opportunity to give back, to share not just his football knowledge with the kids in his hometown, but the lessons he learned along the way.

Tomlin hosted the Hampton Roads All-Star Football Camp July 12-13 in Newport News, Virginia, a camp for kids ages 8-14 that featured football skills taught by current and former NFL players and coaches, as well as the basics on conditioning, nutrition and more.

“It means everything for me to be able to do this,” said Tomlin, who got the weekend started with the annual Tailgate with Tomlin the night before the camp. “When I was a young man in high school they did a camp like this and it was done by the high school coaches. They came together and worked with all of the kids in the area. It was an awesome thing thinking about it in retrospect the way they came together to make things better for kids. That is what we are trying to do. The men I work with now involved in the NFL grew up in those types of camp settings. We are putting our team affiliations aside and we are representing the ‘757’ area where we are from.”

While football was the draw to get the kids to attend the camp, helping the youth grow through important life choices was a primary focus.

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