FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne joined forces Saturday to teach local kids the finer points of football at the third annual Elite Football Camp to benefit the Carr Cares Foundation.
"It's always special when you have one of your teammates come support you, kind of the same passion and enthusiasm to get out here with these kids," Carr said. "He didn't waste any time getting out here, get on the field, try to coach them up."
"He asked me pretty much two weeks did I want to come out and be involved in it," Claiborne said. "I was like, 'Yes. Why not?'
"That's my teammate. He has something going on; just try and get involved in it. And he's doing it for a good cause. It's for a good reason and it's for the kids."
In addition to teaching the kids ages seven through 18 the finer points of football, the cornerback tandem emphasized how important it is to channel the competitive spirit found in athletics into worthwhile off-field endeavors, especially the classroom.
"The same teamwork, the same competitive nature that you have out here on this field, take it to the classroom," Carr said. "Hopefully, we can help these guys excel to the next level."
Claiborne said it is necessary for kids to have role models, but it is significant to still "be who you are," as Coach Jason Garrett frequently reiterates.
"A guy told me he wanted to be like Odell Beckham, and I never told him he couldn't be like Odell Beckham. He was over there playing receiver and that is his dream.
"So, I was over there, I started calling him Odell Beckham. And I talked to him about being himself. And by the end of it, I called him Odell Beckham and he told me, 'No. I am who I am.'"
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Carr's motivation for running an annual camp in both the Dallas area and also his hometown of Flint, Michigan is borne out of his parents' selflessness.
"My father with working his job as an industry supervisor. He still found time to be my AAU basketball coach from age nine to when I graduated from high school."
Kathy Carr, who passed away last year prior to training camp, was a school teacher for 33 years, and the joy she had instructing children made an impression on Carr.
Claiborne's motivation for giving back is his own humble upbringing in Shreveport, Louisiana.
"There's not a lot given to anyone there," said Claiborne. "And being one of these kids once before in my life, and now that I'm in a position in my life that I can come back and actually sit out and look at those kids. Just see the kids throwing the ball and catching and moving. And they got dreams. And I just picture myself when I was that age. I was the same as them."
"We both grew up in this same environment being on the field all the time and getting coached by remarkable people," said Carr. "Can't help but to come out here and give back and I appreciate [Claiborne] coming today."
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