Chaney grad Brad Smith teaches more than football at camp

June 21, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Surrounded by nearly 200 kids — and a steady drizzle — Chaney High graduate/nine-year NFL veteran Brad Smith returned to his hometown for the ninth straight summer to host his free True Foundation youth football camp at Stambaugh Stadium.

When asked what brings him back, he said, “It’s the people, man.”

So, not the weather?

“No, definitely not the weather,” he said, laughing. “It’s home. It’s family. It’s the coaches to the people in the community that support each other. It’s parents sitting here in the rain supporting their kids.

“And that’s the thing — everybody wants to see everyone do well and a lot of cities don’t have that.”

Saturday’s four-hour camp focused on football fundamentals, of course, but Smith and his counselors also talked about life skills like nutrition, etiquette (particularly on social media), perseverance and making good choices.

“There’s a lot of negative influences on these kids, no matter what socioeconomic background they have, and there’s a lot of pressures these kids don’t need to be seeing,” said Smith, a former record-setting quarterback at Missouri who has played wide receiver and special teams for the Jets (2006-2010), Bills (2011-13) and Eagles (2013-14). “This is just another positive reinforcement to do the right thing and we’re happy to do that.

Saturday’s counselors included several area high school football coaches, including former Chaney head coach Ron Berdis, as well as former Chaney standout Ed McElroy and Mooney’s Desmond Marrow, who played collegiately at Toledo and had NFL training camp stints with the Buccaneers and Texans.

“I just try to teach them the fundamentals,” Marrow said. “At that age [8-14], they just want to score touchdowns and look cool and look sweet with the gloves and stuff, but it starts with fundamentals. And I think football is one of the greatest life skills, because it teaches you discipline. You can’t be any more disciplined than a football player, I believe.”

Another counselor was Ursuline High graduate Louis Irizarry, who was convicted of robbery as an Ohio State football player and sent to prison, then finished his career (and his degree) at Youngstown State.

“I talked about growing up in this area and playing on this field and I wanted them to know that you’re going to make mistakes, but there’s nothing that isn’t so bad that can’t be undone,” said Irizarry, who said he is now working as an accountant in Pittsburgh. “I told them to not settle, to make a goal for yourself and pursue it and hopefully all the rest presents itself with a great opportunity and you can take advantage of it.”

Said Smith: “Louis Irizarry, Eddie McElroy, Desmond Marrow — these are guys from the area, guys that have different stories and have overcome different odds. Some made mistakes and came back from them. To be able to instill into these kids, ‘I’ve learned from it, I’ve come back and I’ve gotten better,’ that’s what we want to show them this year.”

Looking for a team

Smith, 31, is a free agent and said he has visited with a couple NFL teams, including the Detroit Lions.

“I’m weighing all our options and waiting for the right opportunity to help a team win,” he said.

When asked how long he wants to play, he said, “We’ll see. This will be 10 years and hopefully I can get a ring at some point and then sit down. My body feels great and mentally I can’t wait to get to work.”

Really? His body feels great?

“OK, it’s relatively speaking,” he said, laughing. “If I get out of bed, there’s still some things that hurt.”

After getting cut from the Bengals recently, former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor is trying to make the same transition that Smith did, converting from quarterback to wide receiver. The only difference is, Smith did it coming out of college. Pryor is entering his fifth year in the NFL.

“It’s tougher than people think,” Smith said. “As a quarterback, you sit in the pocket and you run and then you come back and rest. As a wide receiver, you’re constantly running and it’s different types of movement patterns. He’s athletic enough to do it, but it’s not easy.”