NFL Skills and Development Camp is set

— By PATRIC FLANNIGAN

Sports editor

NFL stars will align again in the city of Camden for the Third Annual Camden All-Star Skills and Development Football Camp at Camden Fairview High School on May 19.

Besides a different location and the event being in May instead of June, there are several other changes in store for this year’s camp. None of those changes are as big as the fact that this year, there is no cost.

Camp organizer and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Vincent Thrower explained that the camp will be co-sponsored by the Kevin Payne Foundation. Payne is a native of Junction City and a former NFL safety who held a free football camp in his hometown last year for 11th and 12th graders. Thrower and Payne are teaming up so more children will be able to attend the event and receive even more instructors than before.

“We are trying to just make it bigger,” Thrower said. “This year, it is free. It’s about doing something for our kids and guiding them in the right direction.”

Thrower, a native of Camden, is the organizer of the event. He played football for the Harmony Grove Hornets and college football for the Arkansas State Red Wolves as an offensive tackle. He is now a coach for the Camden Panthers Pee Wee football team.

Thrower started the camp in 2016 because he noticed that student athletes and their families always had to travel to bigger cities to attend NFL camps and he didn’t see a reason why there couldn’t be any NFL camps held in Camden.

Since then, the event has continued to grow.

Thrower emphasized the importance of camps and getting visibility, citing his own story. He said he was recognized by recruiters when he attended a football camp at Ouachita Baptist University - which led to him playing football at Arkansas State.

“We just wanted to bring something down here that we didn’t have,” Thrower said prior to the first All- Star Camp in 2016. “We want people to realize that these types of things aren’t just available in bigger places like Little Rock or in Louisiana. Camps can happen here at home, too.”

Thrower said that there will be an award given out in honor of his son, Jasiah, as well as an award that will pay for a camper to attend a camp event with the Arkansas Razorbacks. There will also be refreshments.

Reggie Swinton, Vikiel Vaughn and Camden’s own Stacey Andrews will attend the camp for the third year in a row. NFL’s Tyrell Johnson joins them for the second time, and Oakland Raider Oren Oneal and CFL Shemar Bracey will attend the camp for the first time.

Andrews is a Camden Fairview High School graduate and competed on the Ole Miss Track and Field team before playing football his senior year in college. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals and won a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants.

Swinton played high school football in Little Rock and college football at Murray State.

He went on to play for several NFL teams including the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals as a wide receiver and a return specialist.

Vaughan also played high school football in Little Rock and played college ball at the University of Arkansas as a safety. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. Johnson was born in Rison and was drafted as a safety by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arkansas State. Oren Oneal Oakland Raiders Shemar Bracey of CFL.

Several area football legends will also help with the camp, including Ben Owens, P.J. Thrower, Jamario Bell, Dominique Reed, Derek Keaton, Joshua Terry, Jaquis Dancy, C.F. Assistant Football Coach Devin Ball, Marcus Godfrey, Levi Payne, Antoince Cook, Drey Cook, Brandon Rollins and Deion Holliman.

Registration for the event closes on April 30 or until all of the spots are filled. The registration link is available on Thrower’s Facebook Page.

Upcoming Events