Dallas Cowboy Inspires At Annual Football Camp

On a picture-perfect Saturday at Hopkins School’s Parr Field, a group of 75 middle schoolers surrounded a Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman and first-round NFL draft pick, hanging onto his every word as he handed out the highest award at the fourth annual Tyler Booker Football Camp.

“Stay in touch, you hear me, you’re special,” Booker told Arziel Francis, the overall MVP of the morning session, before gathering the group in a huddle. 

“If you didn’t get an award, your hard work didn’t go unnoticed,” he said. ​“So proud of you all. Let’s break it down. We family now. Y’all keep it up. Y’all need something, let me know.” 

“Awesome,” said Jacob Freeman, who was in the running back group, as he made his way up to the campus for lunch. ​“11 out of 10.” 

Like Freeman, everyone — on the field, the bleachers, lining up at the food trucks on the Hopkins campus — was representing the Tyler Booker name, whether in Tyler Booker Football Camp T shirts or blue or white spanking new Cowboys jerseys emblazoned with 52, which was also Booker’s number at the University of Alabama, where he was a first team All American last season. 

In late April, Booker was selected in the first round with the 12th overall pick in the NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys, joining Floyd Little, the No. 6 pick of the Denver Broncos in 1967, as the only New Haven natives to be selected in the first round.

Well before the draft, the camp, divided into sessions for middle schoolers and high schoolers and run by a select group of high school coaches, was fully booked. It’s also free for all campers. There was a $20 registration fee at sign-up, which was refunded upon check-in. 

“This is for our community and by our community,” said Tyler’s older sister, Jailen Booker, who was on a walkie-talkie, making sure the boxed lunches were ready for the middle school players. ​“We asked for sponsors, and we asked for volunteers, and everyone came through, everyone has been great.”

“Giving back is huge for Tyler and for our family,” said Tashona Booker, Tyler’s mom, as she exited the campus amphitheater, where she had led a panel discussion for middle school parents. She recalled taking Tyler and Jailen on walks to help fight ALS or sickle cell anemia as children and engaging in efforts to feed the homeless. ​“When you’re able to help, you do.”

She added that Connecticut kids don’t get much attention from college and high school football recruiters. ​“Tyler wants to change that, and we’re going to help him do that,” she said. ​“He knows there’s real talent here.”

Up on the quad, Tyler Dixon, 8, his morning session complete, was heading with his family for a bench shaded by trees for a picnic lunch. ​“I learned how to decelerate and how to take a hard step and the best position to catch the ball,” he said. ​“I learned a lot.”

His father, Tyron Dixon, nodded. ​“This kind of event is super important for our community,” he said. ​“Just grateful that the Booker family is gracious enough to share this with inner city kids.” 

Back among the food trucks, Brian Burkett-Thompson and wife Capria were selling Gorilla Lemonade to a long line of thirsty spectators. 

“Tyler, the Booker family, they’re not going to let fame or celebrity stop them from what they do,” said Burkett-Thompson who, as part of the Gorilla Lemonade enterprise, has collaborated with Booker on a host of community initiatives. ​“This camp is about showing these kids what’s possible if you learn the fundamentals and work hard and set high goals for yourself, not just in football but in life.”

Down on the field, William Booker, Tyler’s dad, watched clusters of high school football campers shuffling around cones, side-stepping and tip-toeing through ladders, and back-pedaling on a straight line amid a toot of whistles and shouted commands from coaches.

“It just gets bigger and better every time,” he said. ​“Can’t beat this and can’t wait for next year.”