Edgerrin James makes surprise visit to kids' football camp

Edgerrin James was scheduled to attend a cookout at the New Hope Ministries Speed & Agility Football camp Saturday.

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But James had another commitment and couldn't attend.

So in typical Edge fashion, he just showed up -- at Thursday night's camp, instead.

James, who was released by the Arizona Cardinals last month, has been showing up all over Southwest Florida since February, when he became the first Collier County native to play in a Super Bowl. James was a high school football star at Immokalee, his hometown, before going on to star at the University of Miami and in the NFL, for the Indianapolis Colts and then the Cardinals. James is currently seeking another NFL team; various Internet reports have suggested that the New Orleans Saints are interested.

While he has never played pro football for a Florida team, James continues to spend most of his time in South Florida. He remains dedicated to helping young football players like the ones he saw at the New Hope Ministries camp, many of whom were from low-income families and allowed to attend for free, according to New Hope youth pastor Ron Arevalo.

Arevalo said James was so vested in the camp that after attending on Thursday, he invited Arevalo and camp director Andrew Perez, a longtime Pop Warner coach in Collier County, to his house next week, to give them pointers about how and when to best run the camp.

"Having Edgerrin at the camp was a big encouragement for the kids, even a big encouragement for myself," Arevalo said. "He just walked up and starting walking around the field with the kids and talking to them. It was a lot more of (James) wanting to play with the kids rather than give a speech to them."

"Especially the ones that are really into football, their mouths just dropped," Arevalo said, adding that one camper asked James to sign his forehead.

James' appearance was a big accomplishment for the New Hope camp, which is in its first year with 40 campers: four 8-year-olds and 36 players from ages 12-17. Perez, who coached James in Pop Warner football in Immokalee from age 8-10, had the idea for a football camp at church after coaching youth football in Collier County for more than 25 years. Perez and Arevalo are the main camp instructors, with help from other local football luminaries, including Naples High's Bill Kramer, who came earlier this week, former Chicago Bears running back Mark Green and 2008 Immokalee grad Carl Elie, who now plays running back for Louisiana-Monroe.

Saturday, at a cookout to wrap up the camp, which is not open to the public, Arevalo said he's expecting Naples High grad and former NFL fullback Fred McCrary to attend, along with James' cousin, Javarris James, who was a standout at Immokalee and now plays for the University of Miami, 2009 sixth-round NFL draft pick and former Naples High/University of Miami linebacker Spencer Adkins, and NFL free agent/former Gulf Coast and Florida Atlantic cornerback Corey Small.

Arevalo said having the coaches and local NFL and college players attend the New Hope camp did a lot to encourage the campers, especially those who may not otherwise have a chance to attend football camps because of the expense.

Churches don't often hold football camps, but New Hope has a sports focus and is currently in the process of constructing a multi-function gymnasium on the church campus. Arevalo said the church is hoping to hire a coach to work with kids on sports such as football, basketball and baseball.

"We really do want to encourage the people from around our neighborhood to know that we are here for the community. We're out there too to have fun with sports and stuff like that," Arevalo said.

(naplesnews.com)