ROCKINGHAM – Throughout his nine NFL seasons, which include two Super Bowl championships, most recently in 2017 with the Philadelphia Eagles, linebacker and Richmond County native Dannell Ellerbe enjoys fewer things more than coming home and giving back to his community.
And that’s what he and his wife, Shervella Ellerbe, also a Richmond county native, did Saturday through his seventh annual USA Football FUNdamentals camp at Richmond Senior High School’s practice football fields. Thanks to earning his second diamond-studded ring, which he let kids and adults try on, Ellerbe saw a mass of 350 campers from all around participate in the free workout.
According to Ellerbe, this was only the second time that the camp has seen that influx of campers, the other time being the year that he won his first Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2012. Last year, there were approximately 250 campers, which Shervella explained was the total number of pre-registered campers this year.
“It’s great to have that many kids come out this year,” Ellerbe, 32, said. “We always have a good turnout, but whether it’s one kid or 350, it’s just good to be able to get out here and give back to the kids.
“This camp is special (to me) because I get to come home and give back to all of these kids,” he added. “I like to see how happy they are to be running around out here and how happy they get when they see me. It’s always good to give back, but doing it back home knowing we don’t have too much to look forward to around here regarding celebrity status, it feels good.”
Starting with registration at 8 a.m., which was assisted by RSHS’ Beta Club, campers received a free breakfast before coming together for a group photo. But Ellerbe’s “high point” of the day came early in the camp, as he introduced campers to motivational speaker Wallace Peeples, more commonly known by his Instagram tag “Wallo267”.
Peeples, as he explained to the campers, is 39 years old and has spent over two decades of his life incarcerated, most recently for armed burglary. He spoke for roughly 10 minutes, explaining to the campers how he’s managed to turn his life around and encouraged them to stay on the right path in life.
“I felt like this time, more than ever, the kids needed to hear a good message that didn’t come from me,” Ellerbe, a free agent, said. “I had a great speaker in Wallo — he really came through. He was the right one for everything to talk to them about the crime going on in the neighborhood.
“I’m glad he shared his story and showed the kids they can be leaders and not followers,” he continued. “I was able to give the kids a message, and that was my high point, besides being out on the field with them.”
Following Peeples’ speech, Ellerbe broke campers into four different age groups (6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15-17) and led them to the practice field. For three hours, the different groups rotated every couple of minutes to different skill stations, first starting with speed and agility drills, before working on footwork, passing, catching, stance and tackling drills.
RSHS rising junior Ethan Tillman works on footwork drills with Lardarius Webb.
For the first time in the camp’s seven-year history, Ellerbe was able to move freely between groups throughout the morning thanks to the overwhelming amount of help he received from former and current high school, University of Georgia and NFL teammates.
Along with volunteers from RSHS’ football program, which included head coach Bryan Till, assistant head coach Greg Williams and defensive backs coach Chris Campolieta, Ellerbe had over a dozen other professionals at the camp. Some of the headliners were New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram, former Super Bowl champion and Ravens teammates Bobby Rainey and Lardarius Webb, and current NFL players Jonathan Freeny (Detroit Lions) and Tavaris Cadet (Buffalo Bills).
Ellerbe noted that he was “thankful” for all of the players who came out to support his camp, and wanted each of them to know how helpful they were to making another year a success. Some of the guys he commented on were Christopher Ingram, Alex Coulthard, Lee Robinson (former NFL player), Tariq Edwards (Cheraw, S.C., native), Lamarcus Brown, AJ Leonard, Phillip Ellis, Timothy McCaskill and Quan Ellerbe.
Before heading off to lunch, campers competed in one final task, as they raced against their respective age group teammates in what Ellerbe calls his “fastest camper” challenge. The winners were Braylon Clark (8, Charlotte, N.C.), Nigel Gay (11, Winston-Salem, N.C.), Daniel Dawson (14, South View High School) and Jalen Morrison (16, Anson High School).
It was also a family affair for Ellerbe, as his two sons, Nevan Antonio (4) and Nygee Dannell (1) played around on the field for a while with their mom and dad.
“I think it’s always good to come back (home) and give back,” Shervella Ellerbe said, who is the behind-the-scenes coordinator of the event. “Right now, the boys don’t quite understand what all this means. But eventually for them to know to come back and to stay humble and grounded, it’s a way for Dannell to keep going. We are people of faith, and this is what we do to give back.
“This is my absolute favorite event,” she added. “My favorite part is watching the kids after it’s all over and talk about what they did, especially when they don’t know you’re looking. They talk about what Dannell said to them, or getting their picture signed. We have kids who come back year after year, and that’s great to watch them.”
After a brief awards ceremony which Ellerbe recognized four campers from every age group for camp awards, he and a handful of the other coaches handed out goody bags and signed autographs and took pictures with anyone who wanted them.
Below is a complete list of camp award winners. The four categories were the “Leadership Award,” “Hardest Worker Award,” “Best All-Around Award” and “Fastest Camper Award.” A full photo gallery, as well as a video of the event can be found on the Richmond Observer’s Facebook page.
6-8 Age Group
— Noah Allen (Leadership Award)
— Braylon Clark (Hardest Worker Award)
— Micah Littles (Best All-Around Award)
— Braylon Clark (Fastest Camper Award)
9-11 Age Group
— Gabriel Maxwell (Leadership Award)
— Tyler Gardner (Hardest Worker Award)
— Tristen Wall (Best All-Around Award)
— Nigel Gay (Fastest Camper Award)
12-14 Age Group
— Daniel Dawson (Leadership Award)
— Jakqui Stewart (Hardest Worker Award)
— Laiontae Little (Best All-Around Award)
— Daniel Dawson (Fastest Camper Award)
15-17 Age Group
— Joshua Ellerbe (Leadership Award)
— Joshua Mabe (Hardest Worker Award)
— Duce Wilson (Best All-Around Award)
— Jalen Morrison (Fastest Camper Award)
