MADISON, Miss. (WLBT) – For a few days, current NFL players put down their playbooks and put on a tournament to help high school players from their community.

Carolina Panthers Jonathan Mingo (Brandon), Indianapolis Colts D.J. Montgomery ( Madison Central ), Green Bay Packers Malik Heath ( Callaway ), and Denver Broncos Fred Brown ( Jim Hill ), with the help of local coach Mike Espy, all returned home to Mississippi to make their vision of a football camp a reality.

They invited high school football teams from across the state to participate. Friday, a few schools hit the field at Liberty Park in Madison for their first 7 v. 7 tournament. This tournament gave teams a chance to get better as a whole and an opportunity to build chemistry.

Watching the camp come together reminded some of the NFL players of when they were once in those high school players’ cleats.

“It’s kind of like a camp we used to do in high school,” Mingo said. “I’m just trying to be a positive role model for the kids and somebody they can look up to.”

Las Vegas Raiders Gardener Minshew (Brandon) was also in attendance watching his former high school play in the tournament.

“This brings me back to when I was a kid and I had people I used to look up to,” Mingo said when referring to the NFL players in attendance. “It’s a blessing to be able to come back and give back.”

One message the NFL players genuinely wanted the high schoolers to understand was that they could make it to the next level and they were an example of that.

“Growing up, guys like Fletcher Cox were doing camps like this and for us to have our own is very special,” Heath said. “Anything is possible. We know it’s hard but if you’ve got the right mindset and the right focus you can do anything you want to.”

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