Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 8-13-19

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NFL’s Trey Johnson Hosts Inaugural Youth Football Camp
Youngsters who participated in the Inaugural Trey Johnson Football Camp at Cuscaden Park.
TREY JOHNSON ...Denver Broncos CB
Tampa resident (by way of military) wants to provide kids with healthy environment.
Opening the 2019 NFL Preseason at the Hall of Fame Game with the Denver Bron- cos vs. Atlanta Falcons, Trey Johnson had a lot to gain. On Thursday, August 1st, Trey played his first official NFL Game and recorded not only a couple of critical pass break-ups, but also his First NFL Interception.
With this huge accom- plishment, Trey hoped that the children that attended his youth football camp a few weeks prior could truly see that hard work and dedica- tion does pay off.
Tampa and the commu- nity have continued to stay
Trey Johnson and Tampa Bay Rays mascot with some of the camp participants.
present in Trey Johnson’s mind and heart throughout his NFL journey. Entering his second year as a profes- sional football player in the NFL, Trey knew he wanted to begin his efforts to give back to the community, the children and families that surround him.
In 1998, Trey and his family transferred to MacDill AFB with the U. S. Navy, he was four years old. He grew up in North Tampa playing for the Town and Country Vikings and Carrollwood Hurricanes. He played high school football for Steinbren- ner High School and went on to play at Villanova Univer- sity, before entering the NFL in 2018.
Following the 2018 NFL Draft, Trey was immediately signed as a highly sought
after Priority Free Agent and earned an impressive signing bonus with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After moving to the Den- ver Broncos during the off season, Trey began to bring his focus back to his commu- nity and the children that he hoped to inspire.
During his first NFL sea- son, he volunteered at the Dream Center of Tampa, to stay involved. Subsequent to his signing with the Broncos, Trey knew that he wanted to do something off the field that would support the chil- dren of Tampa through his success.
On July 13, 2019, Trey hosted his Inaugural Youth Football Camp at Cuscaden Park, with the motto, “Prayer, Purpose, Passion,” bringing his journey full circle. The children of the community were given an opportunity to train with professional ath- letes, mentorship, build fit- ness and more. Trey also provided the children with lunch and bags filled with goodies to close out the day.
Going into the event, Trey intended to have 200 children present at his event, but due to the overwhelming community interest, Trey served nearly 300 children who registered for his Inau- gural Football Camp.
With the assistance of his family - father, mother, brother, sister, grandmother
and a host of other relatives and friends, who all worked diligently to bring the camp together - everything went well. Trey’s camp secured donations from the NFL Foundation, Gatorade, Mc- Donald’s, GoGo Squeeze, Panini Trading Cards, Zaxby’s, Chick-Fil-A and many more, making the camp an even bigger smashing suc- cess.
Trey already looks for- ward to his 2020 NFL Camp and how he can make it big- ger and better to serve more
children from the area. When looking to the fu- ture, Trey has said, “All I want to do is provide the kids with a healthy environment to compete and play football. Show them a few techniques to help groom their skill set, while having fun. Give them hope by being an example of someone who grew up in Tampa and positioned him- self to give back to the city. Most importantly I wanted them to know that no matter their circumstances, with
God anything is possible.”
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