 "Photo: Megan Peyton, The Associated Press")
The Texas Premier Football Camp held Thursday and Friday could have been considered a Longhorn football player reunion.
Several Longhorn football stars from the past decade came together last week to participate in the camp, held at Lyndon B. Johnson High School. Three former receivers, B.J. Johnson, Sloan Thomas and Roy Williams, hosted the camp, which brought together many former players and reunited them on the field as coaches and instructors.
While a lot may have changed since the trio gave opposing defenses fits from 2000-2003, the friendship the three share hasn't.
"You can't beat this opportunity," Thomas said. "These are all very close friends of mine; [we've] sweat, bled and cried together, and to have the opportunity to be in different places throughout the year and to have time to meet for a few days - you just can't beat it. The relationships I built in college are honestly the closest relationships I have."
The trio first came up with the idea of a summer camp as freshmen in 2000. Now, eight years later, the camp is in its second year and the players plan to continue the tradition.
"It's always a blessing to be able to give back to your community and to be able to do something for the kids," Johnson said. "We're going to make sure we get all the old school UT guys to come out every year, and it's only going to continue to grow and get bigger."
Although many of the students who participated in the camp were too young to recognize some of the older faces, they did understand the grandeur of the occasion and were immediately glued to the players, beginning with the introductory speech given by former Longhorn quarterback and present running backs coach Major Applewhite.
"It's good anytime you can give back," current Oakland Raider safety Michael Huff said. "I know when I was growing up, I would've loved to have been able to interact with NFL players, because most kids don't have that chance."
Along with Huff and the three receivers, eight other past Longhorns headlined the camp. Minnesota Viking Cedric Griffin, Kansas City Chief Derrick Johnson, New York Giant Aaron Ross, Tennessee Titan Bo Scaife, Houston Texan Kasey Studdard, Chicago Bear Nathan Vasher and former Longhorns James Brown and Kwame Cavil all assisted in the camp activities.
And while the players did have jokes ranging from which guys missed out on championship rings to who's driving around town in the newest Maserati, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much as the kids were.
"It's always fun to do things like this," Johnson said. "We don't get the chance to see each other that much anymore so it's good to get back with the guys you had camaraderie with."
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