By: JON SPENCER (MansfieldNewsJournal.com) — LEXINGTON — Leave it to a Michigan Wolverine to bend the rules.
Even though he didn’t meet the age requirement, Dominik Crawford, 5, of Madison Township, participated in Friday’s session of the two-day Lexington All-American Youth Football Camp masquerad-ing as Lex star and Michigan recruit Courtney Avery.

A basketball commitment kept Avery from attending the camp, but his stand-in got plenty of attention. Crawford was decked out in an oversized blue Michigan jersey with “C. Avery” taped across the back.

It was his dad’s way of taking a playful jab at the four former and current Ohio State Buckeyes working the camp.

“We’re huge Michigan fans,” Gabe Delancy said, “and now that Courtney is going to Michigan it made it right to send Dominik here in this jersey. You’re supposed to be at least a first-grader to be here, but he can hang with 7- and 8-year-olds.”

On Friday, Dominik was hanging with the enemy. Former Buckeyes James Laurinaitis and Brian Hartline have worked the camp all four years of its existence. This year they were joined by two OSU holdovers — safety Kurt Coleman and wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher.

“The nice thing is interacting with the kids where football is still just a game,” said Laurinaitis, a three-time All-America linebacker taken 35th overall by the St. Louis Rams in this year’s NFL draft. “There’s a little bit of the business side here, but we’ve been playing this game since we were as old as these kids, so it’s nice to be able to come back to that.”

Lex coach B.J. Payne has seen his camp grow from 40 kids the first year to 250 this weekend.

He blew his whistle every 20 minutes during the three-hour session, with kids scurrying from one of the seven stations to the next.

“A couple of years ago, we had 115 kids here and 110 of them wanted to be a linebacker because Laurinaitis was here,” Payne said. “Now we make sure we have the seven stations to make sure everyone gets coached up in all phases of the game.

“When I was little, I was a receiver, then in junior high I was a fullback/linebacker and in high school I was a defensive lineman. Some of these kids here might think they’re receivers, but their bodies will develop. That’s why we teach them different skills here. If I had played one position, I’d have been in trouble. I would have been the slowest receiver in the world.”

Hartline, now a Miami Dolphins wideout, worked with the kids on their receiving skills, making them do a pushup every time they dropped a pass.

When one of his spirals glanced off the fingertips of his intended target, Hartline barked, “Great stance, great route, no yards … you owe me one.”

Hartline’s brother, Mike, the starting quarterback at Kentucky, worked at one station with Ashland University quarterbacks Billy Cundiff (All-American) and Taylor Housewright (All-Ohioan). The staff assembled by Payne also included Illinois wide receiver-turned-Ashland defensive back Brian Gamble, Lex alums Marc Stevens (Bowling Green) and Ben Boerner (Ohio University) price Xenical and Penn State safety Andrew Dailey.

Chicago Bears linebacker Marcus Freeman, out of OSU, was slated to work the camp for the second straight year but had to cancel because of an illness in the family.

“I’ve built relationships with a lot of these guys,” Payne said. “We have a lot of fun; we laugh a lot.

“It’s good to have Taylor (Housewright) on my side for once. He’s beaten me up three times (as a rival quarterback for Ashland High), including last year’s all-star game (decided on a Housewright TD pass in overtime). After the game he sent me a text, ‘Glad you’re done with me?’ ”

Housewright laughed when that story was retold.

“I guess I owe this to him, but I don’t feel bad about beating him,” Housewright said. “If I had the chance to beat him again, I would.”

Coleman is no stranger to this area. He worked a youth camp at Plymouth High School a couple of years ago. Now he’s being touted as a potential senior captain for the 2009 Buckeyes.

“My first goal when I came to Ohio State was to play, then to become an All-American and a captain and leave my mark at Ohio State,” Coleman said. “I’m on the right track, but I still have a long way to go.”

Coleman considered leaving school a year early like Hartline.

“I wanted to get my degree and I felt there was a lot of unfinished business,” Coleman said. “Our record speaks for itself. We haven’t won a bowl game since I’ve been there, and we’ve lost a lot of big games. I believe this will be our year.”

Hartline is drawing rave reviews in Miami, where he is one of six receivers on the roster along with former Buckeye Ted Ginn Jr.

“It’s a do or die business; that’s the real eye-opener,” Hartline said of the NFL. “At Ohio State, we had 110 players. In Miami, there are 80 guys and 27 of them are going to get cut. I couldn’t imagine cutting 27 of these guys. But I’m not the first guy to go through this and I won’t be the last.”

Laurinaitis, reunited in St. Louis with former OSU teammates Larry Grant and Antonio Pittman, said he won’t be playing this season with a chip on his shoulder even though he slipped out of the first round in this year’s draft.

“I want to prove to myself that I can play at this level,” Laurinaitis said. “I don’t think too high or too low about what people think. My personal goals will always help me overcome whatever people think of me.”

No related posts.