Why NFL star Darnell Mooney wants to continue youth camps in his hometown of Gadsden

Chicago Bears star Darnell Mooney returned to his alma mater, Gadsden City, to host a youth football camp for the second straight year.

Around 240 campers, split into a morning group (ages 9-12) and afternoon group (ages 13-16), signed up to attend. Each camper was given a camp shirt in Bears orange. The camp is run by a group called Offense-Defense, allowing Mooney to move around and interact with campers. Mooney and other staffers helped campers go through drills, giving both coaching and encouragement when needed.

Mooney, who grew up going fellow to alum-turned-NFL-star to Dre Kirkpatrick's camps, he is continuing the tradition of giving back to the community.

"I know how it was when I was a kid and Dre was doing his camps here. I loved it and appreciated it, learned a lot from it. Just coming out here, one, just having fun; and another (thing) is just learning some fundamentals, things you can take with you in life," Mooney said.

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"We both had an understanding of where we come from, we're from the same neighborhood. We understand how beneficial it was to continue and give back and help out the kids, as much as you can."

Mooney hosted a camp last year for the first time after his second season in the league. He is about to start his fourth with training camp beginning next week for the Bears. For Gadsden City coach Ali Smith, who was there while Mooney played for the Titans, it is special to see his former players who made it to the NFL give back to the community.

"It means a ton for them to come back and spend time with the youth guys that are coming up, some of their former teammates, fans, people that hadn't seen them in a while," Smith said. "For Darnell to come back around and do that, to give us a half of his day, it's a great opportunity.

"It means a lot. It means that you gave them something that they feel they want to come back and give back a little bit. You've done something halfway right if they want to come back."The biggest supporter of the camp might be Darnell's mom, Valerie Mooney, who was present Saturday wearing a custom Bears jersey that said "Mooney's mom." It was an opportunity to watch her son give back to a community that means a lot to her while he worked with some of her friends' kids as well.

"It's wonderful. I love for him to be with the kids, and I love for him to give back to the community," Mooney said. "I love for the little kids, like I got some friends out here with little kids, they be looking forward to seeing him."

For Darnell, he plans to keep running this camp each year, letting those kids get the same opportunities he received growing up.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: NFL receiver Darnell Mooney comes home to host camp at Gadsden City