It might have been a tossup what AJ McCarron needed to ice first after his ninth annual free football camp in Mobile – his throwing shoulder, his writing hand or his newly repaired ankle.
The St. Louis Battlehawks quarterback ended the United Football League season playing on an injured ankle, and he had surgery on his left ankle two weeks ago. That didn’t prevent the former Alabama All-American from making sure that he completed a pass to every camper at Mobile Christian’s Harrison Field.
After the football drills, McCarron went into the Leopards’ gym and signed an autograph for every camper that wanted one – and 550 youngsters had registered to attend the event.
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Between the field work and the autographs, McCarron held a question-and-answer session with the campers and their parents.
“A lot of times, these parents want to figure out the best way to mold their kids when it comes to sports,” McCarron said, “and being able to go through all the adventures I’ve had throughout my career, I think, helps give them some light in maybe a situation or a subject that they may not know how to get through to their kids. And a lot of times – even my kids do it – I can tell them to do something and tell them how to do something a hundred times, and it just goes in one ear and out the other because it’s your parents. But because it’s somebody else they respect or look up to tells them the exact same thing, now, all of sudden, it clicks.”
Some of McCarron’s advice during the session included:
· Get outside and play.
· Play as many sports as you can.
· Stay off social media, clear your mind of negative stuff and “don’t let someone else affect what you think about yourself and your abilities.”
· While it’s easy to work while somebody’s watching you, “being able to work when nobody’s watching you is what separates kids nowadays.”
· Sit at the front of the class and show the teacher you’re putting in the effort.
· Treat others the way you want to be treated.
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Another tradition of the McCarron camp continued between the field work and gym session, as special-needs campers lined up at running back with McCarron and the Mobile Christian offense against the Leopards defense. It happened three times on Saturday, and all three snaps resulted in touchdowns.
“I think special needs in general has always been a special part of what my mom has instilled in us,” McCarron said. “They don’t have the opportunity to play actual sports a lot of times like every-day kids, so to be able to include them in this camp and let them have a special moment and kids celebrate them, it means a lot to them. You can see it on their faces. You can see it when they score a touchdown and celebrate. It’s just a special moment and lets you know how blessed we are.”
McCarron was assisted by Mobile Christian coach Charles Lawson, his staff and players on Saturday.
Each camper also left with a Cincinnati Bengals bag. Between playing with the Battlehawks in the past two spring-football seasons, McCarron was back with the Bengals in the NFL’s 2023 campaign.
A Mobile native, McCarron was an All-State football and baseball player at St. Paul’s Episcopal in the Port City.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at@AMarkG1.