Herring, others give back to community through free football camp

For Will Herring, the task of organizing his now-annual free football camp in his native Opelika has been anything but arduous.

Really, it’s been a refreshing — and surprising — breeze.

“I’ve been shocked at how easy it’s been,” said Herring, who graduated from Opelika in 2002, played four years at Auburn and is now a linebacker for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. “To me, it speaks volumes of what kind of town we grew up in and the people that watched us grow up.”

Herring, along with the support of a host of former Opelika teammates and sponsors, will lead the fifth annual Back To The Dawghouse Football Camp from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday at Opelika High School.

All upcoming fourth-, fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders from Lee County and beyond are invited for a free chance to play alongside some of the best players to ever wear an Opelika football jersey.

Sign-up is ongoing at the Opelika Recreation Center.

“Free means the doors are open,” said SaJason Finley, who graduated with Herring and played his college ball at Tuskegee. “We want guys to know we want to be out there, and hang out and do it for the love and opportunity to show them some positivity.”

That positivity is reciprocal, Herring said.

“We’re just so privileged to have the opportunity we had growing up in a community that’s so supportive of us,” Herring said. “These young kinds growing up, they look up to football players, so we want to take advantage of the platform we’ve been given and give back to the kids.”

This year’s camp will feature a number of former Opelika High and Alabama college players, some of whom, like Herring, played in the NFL.

T.J. Jackson, who played alongside Herring at Opelika High and Auburn and spent two years in the NFL, will be joined by Melvin Oliver, an Opelika High grad who played at LSU and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2006. Other coaches include former Auburn defensive tackle Tez Doolittle, current Auburn defensive tackle Zach Clayton, Troy quarterback Jonathan Chandler and former Jacksonville State players Dexter and Derrick Sistrunk.

The camp, as it has been in the past, will be divided into four one-hour sections.

One hour will be devoted to offensive specific drills, where campers will funnel into four different position stations — quarterback, wide receiver, running back and offensive line. Another hour will be devoted to defense, where there will be stations for defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs.

The camp will conclude with games of touch football divided among players of the same age. A post-game meal, courtesy of Chuck’s Bar B Que, will also be provided.

Before all the on-field action kicks off, though, campers will be treated to two guest speakers.

Terrence Jones, the quarterback of Tuskegee’s 2002 SIAC National Championship team who now serves as a pastor in California, and Jackson will each deliver what promise to be motivational speeches, Finley said.

“It’ll just be powerful,” Finley said. “It’s going to be something great.”

For those who can’t make it this year, it’s not out of the question to start planning for the 2010 camp — especially when it’s this easy to organize with all the support Herring has received.

“It’s hard to quit something that’s going so good,” Herring said. “We’ll be doing that as long as that’s the way it is.”

For more information, call the Opelika Rec. Center at 705-5560.

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