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An awkward 30 seconds passed until a camper finally raised his hand to ask Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Laurent Robinson a personal question.
“Do you make money in the millions?”
Robinson looked down at the ground, smiled and almost with an embarrassed tone, replied “No.”
Robinson, who is entering his second season in the National Football League, isn’t a household name and doesn’t bring home the huge salaries associated with many professional athletes.
But on Saturday, Robinson was a star for youth football players from around the area at Edna’s Cowboy Memorial Stadium. He was in town to support his college teammate and former Edna Cowboy Garry Roberts, who founded the camp last year.
Robinson signed autographs, taught football and delivered a message of some lessons he’s learned throughout his 23 years. He also gave most of the campers their first one-on-one interaction with an active NFL player.
“Football is just like life,” Robinson said. “There are all kinds of situations where you can get mad and you can mess up. Something can happen though and it all starts going good for you. It’s just like life in that aspect. There are ups and downs in both and you can learn about life through football.”
Giving back to his hometown
For Roberts, Saturday was a mixture of teaching and reliving his past. He was a star athlete at Edna and now lives and works in Austin. Still, his hometown and the next generation of Cowboys inspired him to found the camp.
“The reason I come back is to give the kids an opportunity that we didn’t have here when I was growing up,” Roberts said. “We’ve had tremendous opportunities in our lives because of football and we want these kids to have the chance to have those same opportunities. It’s great to go off and do positive things and then come back and give back.”
The football camp, which was sponsored by the Edna Rotary Club, was broken down into three different age groups throughout the day. Roberts said the camp drew around 100 in the first two sessions, but the impact on the kids was the most important part.
“It’s not about the number of kids who show up for me,” Roberts said. “Instead, I just hope we were able to bring a positive attitude to the ones that came.”
The campers also got instruction from a number of former Cowboys, including Japhus Brown. After his career at Edna, Brown played safety at Texas A&M. He finished his playing career for the Aggies, but is still in school and is looking forward to the rest of his life.
“I just like to see people smile,” Brown said of why he devoted a Saturday to the football camp. “I like talking with the kids and having the opportunity to come back to Edna and give back. It’s a wonderful feeling to see these kids playing and learning.”
Passing on the joy of the sport wasn’t lost on the kids.
“They taught us about making the right choices and about football,” Edna eighth-grader Vernon Hardaway said. “It was fun to get out and have fun.”
Robinson, who was a third- round pick by the Falcons last season, said making the right decisions and working hard is how he is living his dream playing professional football. He set the Illinois State record for receptions while in college, but made it clear to the campers that without a strong supporting cast around him he would not be where he is today.
“Life is not that hard,” Robinson said. “I told the kids to stay positive and keep working hard and things will go your way.
Doing the right thing and working hard at football has taken me to parts of the world I never imagined I would go.”
Wes Bloomquist is a sports writer at the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6509 or wbloomquist@vicad.com.