Taking a moment from conference realignment angst. How about some good things.
Like LaRod Stephens-Howling doing good back in Johnstown.
“I was really nervous coming in, and LaRod was nervous,” [Artrell] Hawkins said. “We talked (Thursday) morning. We were both like, ‘Did you go to sleep last night?’ Aw, I couldn’t go to sleep last night, either.’ We wanted it to be something that was effective and fun for the kids. I stayed up all night double-checking everything, and LaRod said he did the same thing.”
The free camp features 100 players from eight local schools, but it focuses on more than just football. Hawkins and Stephens-Howling also work with the players on community involvement and leadership skills.
“They’re learning a lot of things out here,” Stephens-Howling said. “We’re just trying to be as positive as we can be and be great role models for them.”
So working with some local high school players at a camp in their hometown should be no problem, right?
But Hawkins, who played 10 years in the NFL before retiring in 2008, and Stephens-Howling, who is about to begin his second season with the Arizona Cardinals, had some nerves before their three-day camp started at Trojan Stadium on Thursday.
They are also participating in further community service by helping to clear an area for a trail.
The extension will connect the trail from its current head near the Ferndale Bridge in Moxham to the city by building approximately 1.5 miles of trail through Moxham and Hornerstown.
Hawkins and Stephens-Howling, along with the high school athletes attending their football camp this weekend, will help clear the overgrown planned trail area along the Stonycreek River opposite Greater Johnstown High School and will help create a veterans memorial along the Sandyvale Memorial Gardens section of the trail.
Stephens-Howling has been very active in Johnstown, despite playing in Arizona.
Now, stop me if you have heard this before. Dorin Dickerson is going to be playing a new position.
Dickerson hasn’t played wide receiver since his freshman year at Pitt, but he has the benefit of learning a new position from the NFL’s best.
Dickerson is the living, breathing example of what a seventh-round draft pick is supposed to be. He has an impressive package of skills, is smart and has a terrific attitude. That said, there’s no way of knowing when or if he’ll be a productive player. He understands that special teams may be his path onto the roster for at least a year or two.
He jumped onto the radar screen at the scouting combine with a 431/2 -inch vertical leap and 4.38 clocking in the 40. All the Texans had to figure out was if they could find a way to use those skills.
Dickerson played wide receiver, fullback, linebacker and tight end during four years at Pitt. He played tight end his senior year, but his speed and 6-4 height prompted Kubiak to think wide receiver was a possibility.
“His coaches at Pitt loved the kid but were never able to find him a home,” Kubiak said. “There’s a risk there, but the athlete is not a risk. He’s very athletic. Moving around has been hard on him. Hopefully, we’ll settle him down, and he’ll be the best he can be.”
Cardiac Hill notes he has to lose some more weight.
In future news, the Big 33 game is this weekend. As usual, a fair amount of players won’t make it.
Future Nittany Lions weren’t the only stars who won’t shine in Hershey on Saturday.
Penn Hills teammates Cullen Christian, a four-star defensive back prospect headed to Michigan, and Aaron Donald, a defensive tackle who is bound for Pitt, both chose not to play in the game, as did Gateway wide receiver Brendon Felder, who will play for North Carolina.
Injuries play a part every year as well. Sam Bergen, the Rutgers-bound linebacker from East Stroudsberg South, will miss the game with an injury, as will Bishop Canevin’s Drake Greer, a kicker who is headed to Pitt.
Add it all up, and that’s a significant amount of star power that won’t be on the field Saturday. And you could very easily argue that, as has often been the case since the game was moved from late July to mid-June in 2006, the dwindling number of marquee names has less to do with a lack of enthusiasm for the game than with the increasing number of players enrolling early.
One of the players who was tabbed to take a spot after the injuries and early enrollments turned them down because he was already committed to another all-star HS game (hattip to PittScript).
That means Penn Hills’ Brandon Ifill was effectively No. 35.
The star WPIAL defensive back had an opportunity earlier this week to move up to what most would consider to be the bigger game because of an injury to a Big 33 player. Instead, he told the Big 33 thanks but no thanks and decided to stay in Blair County and play at Mansion Park on Friday in the 10th annual Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association East West All-Star Game.
Ifill’s decision brought a smile to the face of game director John Hayes in the parking lot between Tiger Stadium the Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School.
“I’m here. I’m dedicated to this game,” Ifill said calmly of his choice. “Why would I change up?
“They [the East West Game] wanted me for me, not just because they needed someone replaced. They wanted me for me.”
Pitt Script also has a link-filled, video-clip embedded feature on Anthony Gonzalez.
Despite all the angst and uncertainty about what conference Pitt will eventually play and how much money they get, the present and future for Pitt football looks pretty damn good.
