Baker Leads Youth Camp, Pushes Community Service

When the NFL pulled its sponsorship from Carolina Panther and punter Jason Baker’s youth camp in Fort Wayne, Indiana, it may have been a blessing in disguise. Baker’s annual two-day “Pro Football Mini-Camp” did indeed go on this year, but for the middle school football players involved, the ordeal focused around a lot more than just football. The 250 participants in Baker’s youth camp last weekend started the Baker-led mini-camp off with a community service project of sorts, later coming back to Wayne and Concordia Lutheran high schools to start digging into football practice.

Baker, who would not have had the chance to be so creative had the NFL kept its sponsorship of his youth camp, made it clear that the focus of his mini-camp was to give young football players a taste of the whole NFL package and not just the football part. In a recent statement, Baker said, “Our goal is not to just have a football camp. It’s great and we will have a focus on skills and fundamentals - but the reality is we’re trying to be unique in that it’s a holistic camp. We’re not just paying lip service to the character-building stuff.”

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