by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
(804) 240-2191
The favorite son returned with friends and free tutelage.
Over 500 football youths took part in Michael Robinson‘s 1st Excel 2 Excellence Football Camp Saturday at Varina High School.
Robinson was an all-everything player at the school before going on to star at Penn State, and now is a running back and special teams dynamo for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
Robinson, about to enter his fifth season in the league, was noticeably excited about the turnout.
“It kind of feels like it’s 2000,” Robinson said, “and we’ve won another region championship.”
Exactly 509 players participated in the camp from ages 10 to a rising high-school senior.
Philadelphia Eagle and former Highland Springs and Virginia Tech star Macho Harris took part in the camp, as well as Robinson’s 49er teammates Josh Morgan and Manny Lawson.
Elite coaches in the Richmond area also provided tips for the students, like Highland Springs coach Loren Johnson, Varina’s Stu Brown, Meadowbrook’s Troy Taylor, former Huguenot coach Richard McFee, Hanover’s Josh Just and many others.
“We’re just here basically trying to give back to the kids,” Harris said. “We were in their shoes back in the day. Just to give return to them, I know it means the world to them, and it means the world to us to be out here.”