Fairfield High hosted the fifth annual free Dream Chasers Elite Football Camp for 200 boys and girls ages 6 to 18 on Saturday. The brainchild of former Vanden High and Montana State star running back Demetrius Crawford and Cheryl Dydo, there is some personal history behind the name.
After retiring from the Canadian Football League, Crawford was training kids in football in Fairfield area elementary, middle and high schools. One of his students was Dydo’s son. In 2014 she suggested the camp and Crawford jumped at the chance.
“I started the camp because at the time that I was done playing nobody was throwing football camps,” Crawford said. “I wanted to do something annually so the kids have something they can look forward to every summer. and I always wanted to give back to the community.”
One of the main goals of the non-profit, which also runs a 7-on-7 football program for youngsters, is to emphasize the importance of a good education as they pursue their athletic goals.
“Grades are important,” Crawford told the 200 kids in his opening remarks. “You’re not going to go to the next level if you don’t have your grades.”
Crawford, a standout at Montana State, was projected as a late seventh-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft. But nobody picked him.
“It was a trend,” Crawford said. “They wanted bigger running backs at that time. I was on the smaller side, but I put up big numbers… I ran a 4.3 40-yard dash. I benched 225 pounds 28 times. I should have been drafted. But I didn’t let that deter me. I just kept pushing and I ended up coming up with the whole dream catcher concept, because I was trying to get in, still chasing my dream. I ended up getting signed to the CFL.”
Crawford brought a lot of his dream-chasing friends along to the camp, including Vanden grad Deonne Bucannon, linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Jason Verrett, cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers; Rashad Ross, Demetrius’ cousin and receiver for the Carolina Panthers; Desmond Bishop, former linebacker for the Green Bay Packers; and Cameron Morah, former tight end with the Denver Broncos.
All of them worked one-on-one with the kids on Saturday morning at seven different stations: running backs, defensive backs; offensive line; defensive line; quarterbacks; linebackers; and agility drills.
All the big guys were enjoying working with the little ones.
“Demetrius is doing a great job with this thing, so I definitely wanted to be a part of it,” Bucannon said. “Helping them to understand that this is all about fun, that’s what this game is about, and just going after your dreams.”
Bucannon, newly signed with Tampa Bay, is excited to be reunited with head coach Bruce Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. He played for both for the Arizona Cardinals.
“I feel comfortable around them,” he said. “They treat you like a man, not just like a player. They care for you as a person. I’m just glad that they gave me the opportunity.”
Bucannon said that he has styled his game after the great strong safety Kam Chancellor, formerly of the Seattle Seahawks.
Ross, who has helped at the camp every year, also knows a lot about chasing dreams. Undrafted in 2013, he was signed by the Tennessee Titans that year and made NFL squads every year until 2018. He then signed with the Arizona Hotshots of the now-defunct Alliance of American Football, where he was the leading receiver of the league and caught the attention of five or six NFL teams.
He chose the Panthers because their receiving corps is not as deep as some of the other squads. He is looking forward to catching passes from Cam Newton this season.
“Nobody can tell you when it’s over,” he said. “If you give up, then it’s over. But if you keep pushing you always have a chance.”
Verrett, who played for Rodriguez High, is another dream chaser. His is an unusual story, in that he had zero college scholarship offers, yet made it to the NFL.
“Growing up we didn’t have a lot of people get scholarships in this area, so we had to follow guys before us like Stevie Johnson (former NFL receiver), like Demetrius,” said Verrett.
After playing at Santa Rosa Junior College, Verrett played three seasons at Texas Christian University, where he was an All-American and was selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers.
He has battled back from several injuries, the most recent a torn Achilles tendon. He thought of quitting after that injury but said he wanted to be an example for others who will go through injuries.
“I have to just keep focusing on what I want to accomplish, being a Hall of Fame player, being a Pro-Bowler,” he said. “I just couldn’t quit, I couldn’t give up on it.”
The cornerback is fully recovered and said he is looking forward “to dominate on that island, do what I do best.”
Bishop, who played at Fairfield High, talked about the key fumble recovery he made at the start of the fourth quarter for Green Bay when they faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.
“They had success with that play before, a counter back to the weak side,” he recalled. “We knew it was coming, so we called it out. We were just trying to get over there and make a play on it. It just so happened that the ball was loose and I picked it up and tried to run.”
He didn’t get far, but Green Bay had the ball and went on to win the Super Bowl. Surprisingly, however, he said that was not his biggest thrill.
“I guess to fans it was a big play to recover a fumble,” he said. “But honestly just a simple tackle for a loss, I had three that game. So those were plays that stand out for me personally.”
