IF THE NAME FITS…

Annual Passing Down Skills Camp, Featuring Several Former Bulldogs, Wraps Up Third Year

By Andrew Marden
VSP Senior Writer:

CLOVIS, Calif. – There are 27 former Fresno State Bulldogs in the NFL. Roughly one-third of them spent the weekend at Buchanan High School.

“A lot of these guys, I get to watch them on TV or play against them,” said linebacker Sam Williams, now of the Oakland Raiders. “But I don’t get to see them but once a year.”

Guys like Clifton Smith (Tampa Bay), Adam Jennings (Detroit), James Sanders (New England) and Richard Marshall (Carolina).

And, of course, Cameron Worrell (free agent), who is the co-founder of the Passing Down Football Skills Camp – the reason these guys reunite in Fresno each year.

“I think people want to support guys that they’ve watched at Fresno State and who have seen battle there on the field and in the NFL,” said Worrell, who is from Chowchilla and who started the camp three years ago.

“It’s real easy to get my former Fresno State teammates, even current NFL guys and former NFL guys. They love to come back to the Central Valley.”

“That’s where they get the name ‘Passing Down,” said former Fresno State quarterback Paul Pinegar. “They want us to show them what we did as far as athletes in high school taking the next step into college and then into the NFL, ultimately.”

But high school comes first. And for the roughly 85 athletes who attended the two-day camp, the time was spent doing everything from a scouting combine to drills with full pads.

“We love to see that many local guys out here,” said Worrell, pointing out that the number of kids attending this year’s camp is twice that of the camp’s first two years.

“I’ve been here every year,” said former Bulldog wide receiver Adam Jennings, now with the Detroit Lions. “I think it’s a great opportunity to get hands-on with the youth here.”

Added Clifton Smith, a former Edison Tiger and Fresno State Bulldog who made the Pro Bowl last year as a rookie, “(I’ll teach) everything that I know, everything that I can. I gotta bring out the next NFL star out of Fresno.”

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!