Stringer's gifts recalled

Memories of the Warren Harding graduate and NFL lineman were flowing.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WARREN -- The kids were all around him, running and yelling and smiling and Michael Phillips stood in the middle of it all. Laughing. Taking it in. Remembering when he was that young, when a big guy named Korey Stringer used to come back to his hometown to talk to guys like him.
"Korey was just a fun guy," said Phillips, a Warren Harding High graduate who now plays defensive back at the University of Pittsburgh. "He'd talk to us and make jokes and make us laugh, but there was always a point to it."
Phillips was a guest instructor at Monday's third annual Korey Stringer Memorial Football Camp at Warren Harding. He joined several ex-NFL players, college coaches and area football standouts from the past and present.
The free camp was open to the first 275 kids who registered.
"Korey always gave back to his community and always cared about the kids in Warren," said Randall McDaniel, who played with Stringer in Minnesota. "Like a lot of people have said, he just made you laugh.
"He was excited about what he was doing and he wouldn't let you leave the locker room in a bad mood. You have to love guys like that."
Retiree
McDaniel, who is now a substitute teacher, retired in the off-season after 15 years in the NFL and is taking classes to earn his master's degree from the University of Minnesota.
"I'm always telling kids that it's important to get your education," he said. "I think it's good for them to see someone like me going back to school."
Former Browns running back Tim Manoa, who has run his own football camp at Harding for the past nine years, said the camps help him impact young players and stay close to the game.
"It's a lot of fun to watch the kids enjoying themselves and learning things that can help them in their future," said Manoa, who retired in 1992. "Korey was always giving back. He never forgot where he came from."
Fondness for Warren
Former Rams defensive lineman Gary Jeter first met Stringer when the latter was playing at Ohio State and knew several members of the Browner family from his years in the NFL.
"I developed a certain fondness for Warren," Jeter said. "You have a lot of guys out here who aren't looking for personal glory. They just want to help the kids."
Jeter said he didn't have anything like the Stringer camp growing up, which is one of the reasons he enjoys helping out.
"That's the beauty of it," he said. "These kids have an opportunity to become what they want to be. The discipline they learn on the field they can carry with them through life.
"You can see why so many people around Warren have success. It's because so many people here come back."
Jeter doesn't know whether any of the kids he coached on Monday will make it into the NFL. He's just hoping to make a small impact.
"Five years from now, one of these kids might remember this and you never know what will come of it," he said. "If I can come here and touch one kid and help him do better, then it's worth it."
scalzo@vindy.com