Stars come out for grid camp

Published 9:47 pm Saturday, July 25, 2009

Eric Jackson of Rehab Associates has been holding his summer football Camp of Champions for five years.

This year, the star power came out with professional football players with Dallas County roots — former Selma/Auburn receiver Ben Obomanu of the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas County/Georgia Tech defensive end Michael Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals.

“We had about 65 kids who came out today,” Jackson said after the eight-hour training session and lunch. “I definitely enjoyed it.”

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The camp drew players from Dallas and other counties. Morgan Academy coach Brian King brought a large contingent, and Francis Marion’s Javaris Jackson had a busload of players.

“This is great,” King said. “It’s a great community event, and it’s free. If you went to Alabama or LSU for this type of camp, you would probably pay $250.”

Francis Marion’s Jackson said his kids will remember the experience.

“It’s good when you can see the different people and the different level of play,” he said. “This has been very helpful for our players.”

Johnson, who returns to the Bengals camp Saturday, said he was pleased with the efforts by the players.

“I think we’ve got a good crowd,” Johnson said. “They’ve been working all the time.”

Eric Jackson said the focus of the camp was to make a community event for Selma.

“It didn’t matter who it was who wanted to work out; anybody that showed up got to play,” he said. “We provided lunch and just worked with them. It’s something to give back to the kids.”

The only stipulation on the camp was the age limit was 13 because of the upper-level workouts that Johnson and Obomanu were teaching.