NFL player Mike Brown hosts 2nd Youth Football Camp in west Michigan

Grand Rapids, Mich. (APN) — NFL Safety for the Tennessee Titans Mike Brown is giving back to his hometown, kicking off the summer for west Michigan area kids Monday and Tuesday June 16th and 17th. 

“I grew up here in Grand Rapids on the southeast side about 10 minutes down the road and today I have my second annual “Mike Brown and Friends Football Camp” just giving back to the kids,” Brown said.

From the bright lights on game day and stands filled with fans, Brown is still pulling a large crowd on and off the field. He said being your best in every stadium or situation in life is equally as important.

“How many kids came out and it was super busy on this field right?" Amanda Porter asked.

“Yeah it was. We had about 90 toda, so a lot more than last year. Last year we had about 37,” Brown said. 

“I think that was the most I had out of the three days. So today the first day we had 90 so it was a good turnout.”

“Yeah it was super hot out here today,” Porter said.

“It was burning. We had to stay hydrated and kept giving the kids a lot of water breaks so wasn’t anybody passing out,” Brown said.

Brown doesn't think he would be who he is today if it wasn’t for football. 

“It taught me structure just being able to take direction and listen. Also finding leaders on the field, it’s the same to me as finding leaders in life,” Brown said.

“And I think it just taught me to be a better person.” 

He says football can apply to people. 

“They can take the things they learned from football and apply it to their life so even if you don’t decide to play football I think it can still benefit you learning how to work with others,” Brown said.

“That’s in any workforce so I’ve taken the things I’ve learned in football and applied it to my relationships as well.”

Learning life and football skills was the name of the game. 

“If I can give any knowledge back to any kids and they can take it and apply it to their life I think that’s good. And I’m always willing to learn from anybody. So, just giving back to the kids and I might not know a lot you know, I might not know everything but I know something and if somebody could take one key thing and apply it to their life or in sports, I think I helped out somebody," said Brown.

The Falcons' field at East Kentwood High School with Mike Brown and friends was truly a sight to see. 

Kids ran drills, rotated groups, and played a mini game of two-hand touch.

“Football is definitely aggressive. You can’t be as aggressive with the no pads, so teaching them a happy, medium of being safe and even when you can’t practice with pads on all the time so teaching the kids to be smart and you don’t wanna get anybody hurt, but still having that competitive mindset that you have to be a little aggressive with football but it’s not just truly football,” Brown said.

“Just teaching them to be safe, but they did good today. They brought their aggression a little bit. I had to tone a couple of kids back, but it was fun. They made it fun.” 

The journey to the NFL and now hosting a second youth football camp for Grand Rapids was a dream come true for Brown himself and the camps’ attendees. 

“It means a lot. When I put on this camp, I just went back and thought about if I was a child. What would I like to do and if I was a child? I would like to be able to see somebody who is where I want to be and to be able to be close in proximity with that person and learn,” Brown said.

“Even just to be around them and you know what I’m saying feel his energy. So as a kid, I always was like, "man, I wish I knew an NFL player," so I know as an adult I said I wanted to be that person to be able to see a kid and he’d be able to touch, feel, talk to, and I’m an open book. I let the kids ask me anything. So, just want to be that person that I wish I had when I was younger."

Being a community leader and role model through his NFL experience is Brown’s way of connecting with and helping others who are inspired by him. 

“As long as I am playing and I will continue to do it after if they allow me to but I am going to always do it, but like I said when I was a child, I wanted stuff like this to happen, but it wasn’t available so I’m going to always come back and give out free events,” Brown said.

“I don’t believe in charging kids to do something like this so I’m always going to come back and give out free events for the kids, especially in the Grand Rapids area because this is where I grew up so it means a lot to me.” 

The second annual Mike Brown and Friends Youth Football Camp wraps up on Tuesday, June 17th. 

“We did offensive day and tomorrow is going to be more defense and competition split up in two days give them more of an offensive day and defensive day so they can learn both sides of the game and they also have a little bit more fun tomorrow because it’s the last day,” Brown said.

“And yeah, like I said being from Grand Rapids and being able to be here and have a good turnout and see all my family and friends and people support supporting me it means a lot because I’m a family oriented person. It definitely warms my heart to see my family out here with me every step of the way.“