S

On Saturday, former Red Raider football player and current New Orleans Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor returned to Manchester to play host to his Chosen One Youth Football Camp.

The camp consisted of two sessions, with the first session taking place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. for kids aged 6-12 and the second session taking place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for kids aged 13-18.

It is the first time that Taylor has been able to host a youth camp, which is something that he had been contemplating on doing for years.

“Growing up in a small town like Manchester, it didn’t seem like we had any big time college players or NFL players that would come back here and talk,” he said. “I knew that once God blessed me enough to make it to that level, I wanted to come back and give kids motivation and let them know that you can make it, no matter where you come from.”

During the camp, young players went through various drills to test their speed, agility and footwork along with some receiver and defensive back drills, however the camp wasn’t specific to player positions.

“We tried to keep it all-around, we didn’t want to single out anyone based on what they played,” said Taylor. “We wanted these kids to get an idea of where to start, so that way they can work on these things at home and then when they start playing, it comes naturally. But the biggest thing is to just have fun.”

Even though NFL players like Alontae Taylor and Jauan Jennings keep a tight schedule, especially in the offseason, they never lose sight of why camps like these mean so much to younger players.

“It means everything to me”, said Jennings, Taylor’s former teammate at the University of Tennessee. “All of my family is about 30 minutes away from here and it’s great to give back to the community and show them that anything is possible.”

After the first session of the day, Taylor took time to sign autographs for the dozens of young camp goers and others that showed up. There’s no doubt that he has left an impact on this community, and if he has anything to say about it, he wants to continue to leave an impact for years to come.

“This is going to be an annual thing for me,” he said. “As long as I’m living, this is something that I want to do. I want to play 13 or 14 years in the NFL, and even when I’m done playing, I want to keep coming back home and giving back to these kids.”