Chris Kelly really, really wanted a nap, but he got to celebrate his birthday on a football field July 8.
The Aurora Central High School head football coach will always remember when he turned 32 years old, as it came with the opportunity to run a camp for kids highlighted by the presence of Denver Broncos safeties Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson.
The charitable foundations for both players combine for an event that drew hundreds of boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 17 for the no-cost camp that was run largely by Kelly, some of the members of his coaching staff and several former Aurora Central players along with Simmons, Jackson and fellow Broncos P.J. Locke, Caden Stearns and Aaron Patrick.
“My heart is really happy and especially doing it on my birthday makes it really special,” Kelly said. “I could have done a lot of different things instead, but this is the best thing I could do. I don’t need to do anything else today. Well, maybe a nap.”
FULL PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE JUSTIN SIMMONS-KAREEM JACKSON CAMP, HERE
The foundations approached Aurora Public Schools athletic director Casey Powell to express interest in putting on the event and Powell found Kelly and the Aurora Central community eager to accommodate.
Kelly — a 2008 Aurora Central graduate who was hired as head coach in 2021 — coaches Wade Scott, Marcus Shelton, Tim Walter and others, plus former Trojans players such as Mike Thompson, Erick Covington and others planned the stations that campers cycled through while interacting with the Broncos players.
Campers worked on speed, agility, tackling and other skills, all the while encouraged by the smiling professional players.
“I’m more excited than the kids that they are here, I’m just trying not to show it,” Kelly said. “When I was young, we didn’t have Broncos players come around. They are down to earth, good guys that are interacting with the kids and acting like kids themselves.”
One of the drills had Simmons and others cover campers one-on-one as they ran pass routes while the other players or coaches threw them balls.
It gave the players more of a chance to interact personally with each camper and celebrate their successes or give them tips to improve.
Jackson — who is about to enter his 14th season in the NFL and fifth with the Broncos — said sports camps had a big impact on him when he was growing up in Georgia.
“Having the opportunity to see those guys and be around those guys (pros) is definitely inspiring,” Jackson said to media in attendance. “To obviously be in this situation and have the platform that we have, to come out and to give some of the knowledge that these kids and inspire them to continue to chase their dreams and one day make it to the big stage.”
Added Simmons: “For us, this is so cool because we know the impact that we have in the city of Denver and we just wanted to do something special. Hopefully this is something we can do for awhile.”
When the drills wrapped up, Simmons and Jackson answered questions about their careers and then posed for photos and signed items for campers, who also got free lunch.
All of it made for the greatest present for Kelly.
“You could see that they are human and all good people,” Kelly said. “People from all over the state were here all having a good time. It’s crazy how we can all just unite with the game of football.”
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
