CLEVELAND — DeShone Kizer surveyed the scene at the Browns' football camp and quickly harkened back to a time where he was in the shoes of the kids running around him.
"All of us in this rookie class we were in this position at one point in our lives," the rookie quarterback said on Friday. "Not all of us were privileged to be at something as awesome as Cleveland Browns stadium for it, but in some sort of fashion we got introduced the game.
"So now, to take what we've done and developed into and apply it to the guys who are now in our position and young girls out here is awesome."
Kizer and the Browns' rookies helped host the Cleveland Browns Football Camp at FirstEnergy Stadium, which helps kids 7-12 years-old sharpen their fundamental football skills like passing, kicking, blocking and playing defense.
"I always wanted to meet a football player or basketball player, somebody that's just at the top that I wanted to one day be at so it's just cool coming out and meeting the kids," cornerback Howard WIlson said.
"it's just a childhood dream to be meeting somebody already in the position that I want to be in. I just wanted to be that person that they look up to."
This week was the first of two three-day sessions (Session 2 is set for June 14-16) at Firstenergy Stadium. The rookies will attend the finales of both sessions, including next Friday.
"It's bigger than just us and football," tight end David Njoku said. "it's the whole community. It's crazy how one ball changed all of our lives so far."
The Browns rookies hosted kids at FirstEnergy Stadium for Youth Football Camp.
The Cleveland Browns are committed to assisting the development, safety and growth of youth and high school football throughout Northeast Ohio with year-round programming for players, coaches, officials and parents. Through camps, clinics and other initiatives, the Browns' goal is to promote healthy, social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of youth by enhancing opportunities for youth football participation and education.
As part of Browns Give Back, the Browns are continuing their commitment to #give10 through the team's signature First and Ten volunteering campaign during the offseason after engaging the community throughout the season each Tuesday on the players' day off.
Launched in June 2014, the Cleveland Browns First and Ten campaign was established to inspire fans to volunteer in and help their communities throughout the world by volunteering for 10 hours each year.
Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual's city across the globe, as well as the franchise's local community.
Fans are encouraged to share how they give back in their communities by tagging their stories #give10 on social media.