“Who’s the coolest football player of all time?” Pete Brock asked, before quickly offering his own answer. “Tom Brady, and any other player you say is wrong.”
Those were only a portion of Brock’s fiery introduction to a group of a about 100 campers at Memorial Field in Concord on Wednesday night.
Brock is first and foremost, a former New England Patriot. He was drafted by the Patriots back in 1976 with their first-round selection at No. 12 and spent all 12 of his seasons with the Pats. He’s remained in football and with New England ever since, serving as the New England Patriots Alumni Club president. Where he once bulldozed over opposing linemen in the NFL, he’s now paving the way for the next generation of football players.
The alumni club, in tandem with Concord High’s football team, put on its yearly “Football for You” camp. It’s a free, non-contact, program designed to teach kids ages 9-14 the fundamentals of the game and the life lessons often associated with it. Held within the football stadium at Memorial Field, campers rotated through six different drills focused on specific positions ranging from quarterback and offensive line, to defensive backs and general agility drills.
“We’re only out here for two hours with the kids and this isn’t just a football camp,” Brock said. “I hope the kids learn something or have something that their parents, coaches and teachers telling them affirmed. Our expectation is to, first of all, have fun with football, number two is learn something today that you didn’t know yesterday, or do something new each day.”
Brock, a former offensive lineman, wasn’t the only Patriot in Concord. He was joined by the club’s vice president and former UNH player Ilia Jarostchuk, along with Jon Williams and Rick Buffington. Jarostchuk was a linebacker and special teams player for New England in 1990 and 1991. Williams played just one season with the Patriots as a running back in 1984. Buffington served as a scout for the Patriots in 1979 and then an assistant coach in 1980.
Wednesday’s camp marked the seventh year it was held, with one year off during the pandemic.
Brock said the importance of the game hasn’t been lost in society.
“(Football) teaches kids commitment, discipline, belonging, be able to care for a teammate, loving that teammate,” he said.
Football for You will continue into the summer with destinations around New England. It returns to New Hampshire on June 24 and July 9 when it heads to Nashua and Manchester.