CONNELLY: Hometown hero not needed to make impact

Camping isn’t my cup of tea.

I’d much prefer a nice bed, with clean sheets, over a sleeping bag and a slightly damp pillow.

But I am a fan of a different sort of camping.

Last weekend, I stopped by Tim Johnson’s “Run for Fun” Life and Skills Football Camp at the Watson and Tressel Training Site on the Youngstown State campus.

To my surprise, there was a certain buzz in the building. Packs of kids were following around the former Penguin and NFL linebacker, who at 36 years old looks like he could still strike fear into many running backs.

Attitude at these types of camps too often gets overlooked. Are kids there because they have to be, or because they want to be?

It was a refreshing feeling of excitement. It could’ve had something to do with football season being right around the corner, but I prefer to believe it was for a different reason entirely.

Tim Johnson has a glow about him. Those aren’t my words. Those came out of the mouth of Youngstown State University president Jim Tressel, when speaking about his former player.

It’s been camping season in the Mahoning Valley and notable names like Bo Pelini, Mark Stoops, Mike Stoops, Mario Manningham and Brad Smith have all made a point to come back home.

They realize what their presence can mean to a community and its youth.

However Tim Johnson doesn’t have that. He’s created it because of who he is, not just what he’s accomplished.

This is not a slight on those people who grew up and went to high school here, because the more kids can see it is possible to achieve success starting here the better. This is more of an endorsement for those who know how to keep giving after their professional careers are over.

Take Johnson for example. He didn’t grow up in Youngstown. Heck, he didn’t even play at YSU for four years. He’s simply a good guy from central Alabama, who was given a chance by an up-and-coming coach at a small Division I-AA school in northeastern Ohio.

He isn’t a household name in the area. Kids aren’t buying his jersey or wearing his number.

Yet on Saturday afternoon, surrounded by kids far too young to remember his name or know who he is, Johnson had an electric vibe to him. Taking time for anyone and everyone who wanted to talk to him. He signed t-shirts and took pictures with every kid, and parent, at the camp.

Not because he had to for people to get their money’s worth. But because he wanted to.

Kids need role models, and the best ones aren’t always the ones they see on TV every day. Or even the ones whose jerseys they wear.

Sometimes it’s that guy from a different part of the country, who is giving back to a school that gave so much to him.

All the camps that have taken place this summer have been great. The more chances kids have to not only learn from the best, but hear what they have to say, the better.

But you don’t have to be a local hero. Just be a good person. That’s all that matters.

Kevin Connelly is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at kconnelly@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @Connelly_Vindy.