New Orleans — The 2nd annual Leonard Fournette youth football camp was just part of what the former St. Aug and LSU stand-out got into this weekend, back in his hometown of New Orleans.
“Yesterday for some of the kids who– well you know my camp was sold out– so some of the kids who couldn’t make it, I decided to take them to the zoo– 300 kids from the Boys and Girls Club,” said Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette. “It’s all about giving back. This is our time to use our platform for the goodness that God gave us and I’m just honored to have this opportunity.”
Fournette and his peers from the area have really started a trend in the city, of coming back and making sure the kids now, have something that they didn’t.
“Us growing up in this environment you know a lot of NFL guys didn’t come to see us or visit us,” Fournette said. “I made sure that for my generation we kind of changed that. You see guys having camps out here now which to me is a great thing for the kids to get that experience to come up close and experience that with us.”
Fournette is coming-off a rough sophomore season in the league, missing half their games because of injury and a suspension. On top of that, the Jaguars finished the year a disappointing 5 and 11.
“It challenged us as a whole– the whole team– even our coaching staff,” Fournette said. “Coming into this year kind of refined ourselves and also challenging ourselves to be better than last year. Challenging our team to come back more in shape, more physically ready, mentally ready. Things like that. I believe it’s going to be a good year for us.”
Getting Nick Foles as their quarterback and 8 new coaches this off-season will certainly shake things up for Jacksonville, and Fournette has put in the work this off-season to make sure he’s personally setting himself up for improvement too.
“I can do more,” Fournette said. “I believe I have it in me. That’s why I took my time this summer, off-season to really train and get ready. So I’ll be ready.”