Daily Republic-Adam Smith
July 08, 2012 | by Peter Fournier | dailyrepublic.com
FAIRFIELD — Five years running and former Fairfield High graduate and current Green Bay Packers starting inside linebacker Desmond Bishop wants to make his next football camp an even bigger and better experience for kids.
Bishop held his fifth annual camp for local kids ages 8-17 free of charge on Saturday at Fairfield High’s Schaefer Stadium, and has seen children and the size of it blossom since the first one.
“It never gets old,” Bishop said. “It’s just like a revolving door. You see new kids every year and you see the old ones and remember them when they were freshman.”
Nearly 350 children participated in two different sessions, with kids ages 8-13 working out in the morning and those 14-18 in the afternoon.
“It keeps getting bigger and bigger every year,” Bishop said. “We keep coming up with new and different ways to keep it exciting and fun and we’ll continue to do so.”
High school-aged players participated in a variety of on-the-field drills with guidance from Bishop and fellow Packers teammates Jarrett Bush and Charlie Peprah. Rodriguez graduate and current Cleveland Browns rookie linebacker James-Michael Johnson, along with Vanden graduate and former Canadian Football League player Demetrius Crawford also attended the camp.
“I haven’t been able to make it out there to support him so I figured this year would be a good year,” Peprah said.
Peprah, a University of Alabama graduate who had his best statistical NFL season in 2012, intercepting five passes and returning one for a touchdown, saw that the younger kids in the morning session were eager to learn and listen to what the pros were telling them.
“The high school kids, there was a lot of talent out there and they picked up things we taught them fast,” he said. “There’s a lot of talent in this area and I’m glad they came out.”
Bush, a Wood graduate, said he always likes helping the “local kid.”
“You always got to help the community,” he said. “It’s a privilege and an honor to do this.”
Bishop said he hopes his camp will be a foray for him into coaching.
“It’s always good for me to teach and I want to coach, too,” Bishop said. “I’m kind of starting, kind of getting my feet wet, so to speak.”
One of the things Bishop wants to add to future camps is a coach’s clinic.
“Hopefully we can get it to be a padded camp, maybe a two-day camp instead of doing it all in one day and try to help some of these kids get scholarships,” he said. “Have college recruiters come out and watch. That’s the big picture.”
