NFL Veterans Coach Children on Skills for Success
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Two dozen Long Beach schoolchildren received final lessons Monday from two retired professional football players who have spent the last three weeks advising the youths on how to succeed in sports as well as academics.
Reggie Berry, a former defensive back for the San Diego Chargers, and Joel Williams, who played tight end for the Miami Dolphins, wrapped up the Goals for Life program by presenting graduation certificates to the fourth- and fifth-graders attending Lincoln Elementary, which is mostly minority.
Although few of the students had any experience playing the game, Berry said all participating boys and girls developed a dedication to the sport by showing up for the program twice a week despite the recent heat wave and the grueling calisthenics, drills and scrimmages.
Sponsored by the National Football League Retired Players Assn., the program helps children find alternatives to gangs and juvenile crime, Berry said.
“We try to relate academics to sports the whole time we’re out there,” he said.
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