Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs participating at his youth football camp in Sacramento.
Chicago Bears LB & Elk Grove high school star Lance Briggs at his 2011 Nor-Cal All Star Football Camp on Saturday.
SACRAMENTO, CA - NFL Pro-Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs of the Chicago Bears returned to his hometown to conduct his third annual Nor-Cal All Star Football Camp at American River College, in Sacramento on Saturday.
Briggs, joined by 10 other NFL players, interacted with about 300 football campers - boys and girls ages 9-17 to teach them fundamentals and the importance of hard work.
"Hard work, more than anything else", Briggs said about the overall theme of the camp. "Things don't come easy so you got to work for it and have fun at the same time."
For Briggs, the hard work paid off.
Briggs, 30, a standout student athlete at Elk Grove High School became a 3-time All-Pac 10 player for the University of Arizona before being a 3rd round draft pick by the Bears in 2003.
With accolades that include six Pro-Bowls and three All-Pro honors in the NFL, while being a part of a potent defense in Chicago alongside Brian Urlacher and Julius Peppers, Briggs said it was important to him to remember his Sacramento roots.
"I never forget, this is where it all started for me," he said. "To give an opportunity for some of these kids to see some pro-guys and learn some fundementals from some great coaches is really key and an opportunity to give back."
Cleveland Browns quarterback Seneca Wallace, who was a stand-out at Cordova high school in Rancho Cordova was also on-hand to interact with the area youth. Wallace says he lends his time to camp like this one because he wasn't able to as a kid.
"Lance is doing a great job trying to get the kids exposed to different things and that can go a long way with these kids," Wallace said. "We didn't have the liberty of having things like this, now we're blessed to do things like this and it's important to try to give back."
With the NFL in the midst of an ugly lock-out, players like Briggs and Wallace are forbidden from having any sort of contact with their team's personnel, leading to a lot of uncertainty for next season.
By Sean Cunningham, SCunningham@News10.net
Twitter: @News10Sean
News10/KXTV