Former Huskers motivate at camp

He knows what it takes to be successful and he’s willing to pass that on to youngsters.

That is exactly what Frazier and several other former Husker football players did to over 100 youth football players at the Panhandle Football Camp held last weekend at Bearcat Stadium in Scottsbluff.

Frazier was joined by former Huskers Tyrone Leggit, Dwayne Harris, Keith Mercer and Marlon Luckey; along with former college and professional players Tony Veland, Steve Warren, Jamel Williams, Octavious Mcfarlin and Raymonn Adams. The group teamed up to instill plenty of confidence and work ethic into the participants of the two-day camp.

In addition to stressing hard work and not giving up, Frazier said the focus of the camp was teaching the campers the correct techniques for the sport of football and valuable life lessons.

“We are teaching them more technique drills. We are teaching them how to do things the right way,” said Frazier, who led Nebraska to back-to-back national championships in 1994 and 1995. “The one thing we start seeing in youth football, as well as some pro and college players, is they are getting away from the fundamentals of the game. That is why you are starting to see more injuries. We are out there teaching them to do things the right way — the way we were taught.”

The campers went through two days of drills on both offense and defense. Aside from teaching the fundamentals, it was the message that the former Husker players passed along that hopefully proved valuable.

“It is important because everyone here got to where they are in different ways,” Frazier said. “Some guys grew up homeless. Some guys grew up poor. Some guys had a lot of money. Some kids didn’t have a wealthy family. Some had a struggle. What we can give them is telling them, ‘Hey guys we have been there. We know what it takes. We listened to people.’ Maybe something that we say to them can help them in life and that is what it is all about. Football is going to be there for just so long and hopefully you have a whole lot of life to live after football. Those are the lessons we are trying to teach on the field and mentally.”

Frazier said camp instructor Adams is a perfect example of a player that made the most of his collegiate career. After playing at Doane College, Adams went on to play for the New York Jets, the Calgary Stampeders, and for Amsterdam in NFL Europe. At Doane Adams was an all-American in football and track and field. In the CFL, Adams was one of the top kickoff returners in 2002.

Frazier said players don’t necessarily have to go to a Division I school to make their football-playing dream come true.

“There is a ton of football out there. You don’t necessarily have to play for the Nebraskas, the Wyomings or the Florida States,” he said. “Coach Adams played at Doane College and then he played two years with the Jets, a year in Canada and a year in NFL Europe. That doesn’t say he wasn’t good enough to play Division I, he just didn’t have the opportunity to go there when he came out so he went to Doane College. He accomplished everything he wanted to accomplish and more without going Division I.”

Frazier is hoping to keep putting on the in future years because it is a way to give back to the people of western Nebraska. Frazier said he tries to bring a few new players out each year.

“The one thing I tell the players is it is an opportunity for them give back to the kids in western Nebraska,” he said. “We can do that back east but it is an opportunity for us to come out here to support programs and camps. We really appreciate what the fans did for us and this is a good way to give back to them by helping the kids with football.”