Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker hosts free football camp for kids at Merced High School

Brody Grissom says he wants to be a football player.

That’s what drew the 10-year-old from Merced to the David Perales Football Camp at Merced High School on Saturday morning.

Grissom was having the time of his life, going through drills, playing tug-of-war and throwing water balloons with roughly 150 other kids who participated in the two-hour, free camp, which was organized by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker David Perales, a Merced High 2017 graduate.

With the help of sponsors, Perales was able to make the camp free. The camp was open to boys and girls ages 7 to 14.

Grissom’s favorite part of the camp was the tackling drill.

“I like to tackle, but I’m not very good at it,” Grissom said.

Perales enlisted help from current Fresno State players like Devonta Bridges, Elijah Gilliam, who graduated from El Capitan High, NFL players Levelle Bailey (Denver Broncos) and Arron Mosby (Green Bay Packers) and former UC Davis running back Ulonzo Gilliam, who was teammates with Perales at Merced High.

“I never met an NFL player before and then I met David a couple minutes ago, “Grissom said.

Perales will compete for a spot on the Pittsburgh Steelers during training camp this summer. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound linebacker spent most of last year on the Steelers’ practice squad.

Perales said his football journey started like many of the kids who were at the football camp. He started playing youth football at 10. He then played at Merced High, then Merced College and earned a scholarship to Sacramento State.

He then transferred to Fresno State where he was an all-Mountain West Conference first-team selection his senior year after recording 47 tackles, 11.5 sacks and 16 tackles-for-loss. His 22.5 career sacks rank sixth all-time in Fresno State history.

“If I can make it from Merced hopefully one of these kids can do the same thing,” Perales said.

Perales hopes to make the camp an annual event. He says the first camp was a success as he watched all the smiles of the kids on the field.

“The kids love it, man,” Perales said. “They love being out here. They ask me if I know T.J. Watt. That’s probably the most popular question.”

Isabella Chavez, 9, of Atwater said her godmother signed her up. She was voted one of the MVPs of the camp for her age group by the coaches.

“It’s my second year playing football,” Chavez said. “I like playing defense. I like that playing football makes you stronger.”

Kids went through drills working on their footwork, tackling and how to change direction before splitting off to work on offensive and defensive positions.

“This is what it’s all about, man,” said Ulonzo Gilliam. “This is what you what you look for — when you have success on your own, go out to college and leave — then be able to bring something back to the community.”

“I was talking to David earlier about how we didn’t really have something like this when we were their age,” Gilliam added. “So I know it means something to them, because it would have meant something to me back then.”

Scheidt said it was nice to see one of his former players sharing his love for the game with kids.

“Obviously, we’re proud of David, but I’m proud that he’s just advocating for the sport he loves and now he’s passing that on that love to the kids here locally,” Scheidt said. “It’s just an awesome feeling, and to have it in our stadium too, it’s kind of a dream of mine to see camps like this going on.”

All the kids who participated in the camp were given free T-shirts, lunch, shaved ice and were able to get autographs from all the Fresno State and NFL players on hand.

“I was nervous because I didn’t know how it would go,” Perales said. “Coach Scheidt really helped a lot, with the equipment and the stations in general. I think the camp went well and I think next year it will be even better.”