{"id":162077,"date":"2025-06-27T07:56:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T07:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/162077\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T07:56:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T07:56:12","slug":"what-being-a-trojan-is-all-about-usc-football-player-and-la-native-hosts-free-camp-for-local-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/162077\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat Being a Trojan is all about\u201d USC Football Player and LA native hosts free camp for local kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES\u2014 On a gray and humid summer afternoon at USC\u2019s Howard Jones field, Anthony Beavers Jr. looks out at the dozens of kids laughing, playing, and learning the basics of football.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tuesday was the first annual \u201cPlay Like a Trojan\u201d event, created and coordinated by Beavers Jr., a redshirt senior on the USC football team. The kids came from L.A.\u2019s Best,<\/a> an after school program that provides free academic support and meals to young students aged 5-12 from the inner city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kids<\/p>\n

Anwar Stetson. The Sporting Tribune.<\/p>\n

Kids with L.A.’s Best and USC athletes pose for the camera with a “fight on” salute.<\/p>\n

Beavers was once in their shoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a full circle moment for me, just being able to see their shirts,\u201d said the South Central L.A. native. He was a student in the program from first to fifth grade while attending Baldwin Hills Elementary School.<\/p>\n

The four-star safety graduated from St. Bernard High School in 2020 after stints at Narbonne and Serra (Gardena), enrolling at USC in 2021 as a first-generation college student.<\/p>\n

Since then, he\u2019s graduated with a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Occupational Science and a Master\u2019s in Applied Psychology\u2014all while playing high level college football.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cL.A.’s Best is very, very, very important for the inner city,\u201d he continued. \u201cNot everyone can afford the after school care, so just being able to have people who actually care about you regardless of where you come from and what you look like, I think can go a long way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Players<\/p>\n

Anwar Stetson<\/p>\n

Players teach a young student how to be a quarterback.<\/p>\n

He emphasized the importance of letting kids know that \u201cpeople who come from where you come from, and look like how you do, can do great things also.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Known affectionately by his teammates as \u201cTone\u201d, Beavers Jr. stands 6 feet and 225 lbs, with a stern and stoic countenance. His teammates at the event have always respected his leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI played 7-on-7 with Tone growing up since around 8th grade and he\u2019s always been the same guy since 8th grade,\u201d said teammate Josiah Zamora. \u201cAs 8th graders it\u2019s a surprise, you\u2019re like \u2018man this guy\u2019s really mature, we\u2019re little 8th graders\u2019 but it\u2019s really great to see him give back to the community and stay the same.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s O.G. Tone\u201d echoed teammate DJ Harper. \u201cHe always had that respect [from] all the teammates in the locker room, just by the way he carries himself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s kind of an older soul, but people respect what he does and what he says,\u201d said senior tight end Lake McRee.<\/p>\n

Beavers Jr. reciprocated the love from his teammates: \u201cI\u2019m very appreciative for my team to come out here and support my ideas and embrace the city that I love dearly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The camp began with a summary of events from Clarke Stroud, USC football\u2019s Executive Director of Player Development and University Relations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 75 kids would rotate around the practice field participating in a few drills, including passing, catching touchdowns, one-on-one, and most importantly, perfecting the art of the celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe look like me out there!\u201d one player boasted after a child successfully juked their way to the endzone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Ayyyyy!!” roared another after a child showed off his best rendition of the fan-favorite Griddy\u00a0dance. The players often showered kids with praise, dancing, and a bevy of hi-fives.<\/p>\n

One player brought his own camera, allowing the children to feel like Saturday night superstars, performing in front of thousands of spectators and millions more watching at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Anwar Stetson. The Sporting Tribune<\/p>\n

A USC football player signs a young student’s shirt<\/p>\n

\u201cJust seeing their smiles on their faces when we first walked in and throughout the whole thing, just kind of pushed us just to have fun and enjoy what we\u2019re doing,\u201d said senior long snapper Hank Peppers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us see us in them.\u201d Beavers Jr. added.<\/p>\n

After the drills, the group split the field in half, playing two competitive touch football games. \u201cThis is the last two-minute warning.\u201d Stroud warns on the megaphone after 15 minutes and two previous call outs. The players begged him for more time to play with the kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The kids and players gathered around for a word from Beavers Jr. and L.A.\u2019s Best COO Dee Ann Rivera. The senior defender told the students to \u201cdream big\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0After a group picture, the kids enjoyed Chick-fil-A , got signed autographs from the players, and went home with a goodie bag of USC merchandise.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThis is something that could\u2019ve been very good for my friends who chose the wrong path,\u2019 Beavers Jr. said, \u201cjust being able to influence them with school and people who are doing great things and positive things, [it] can go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018hood\u2019s symbolic poet laureate, late rapper Nipsey Hussle, inspired Beavers Jr. to come up with the idea to give back. \u201cIt just kind of came from just listening to music,\u201d he said candidly. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at the house listening to a lot of Nipsey Hussle, just reflecting on my life. He\u2019s got a song called \u201cBigger than Life\u201d and I think things like this are just bigger than life, you know?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Players<\/p>\n

Anwar Stetson. The Sporting Tribune.<\/p>\n

Players celebrate an athletic handstand celebration<\/p>\n

\u201cI was meeting with [Anthony] one on one back in January and we talked about how we are right here in South Central, right here in LA ,and we really haven\u2019t done much with the community,\u201d Stroud added. \u201cI asked him, \u2018have you thought about anything that we could do as a team that would have an impact?\u2019 And he said \u2018Yeah let\u2019s do this. Let\u2019s do it with LA\u2018s best.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPlay Like a Trojan\u201d is the first USC football partnership with L.A.\u2019s Best since before the pandemic, and the first involving multiple drills.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Anwar Stetson. The Sporting Tribune<\/p>\n

A breakaway touchdown leaves the players ecstatic<\/p>\n

For old-soul Tone, there\u2019s no place like home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Southern California represents the struggle, the inner city kids, and the humble beginnings,\u201d he finished. \u00a0\u201cBeing able to stay close to home, being a role model for the kids who need it, I think is something that\u2019s very unique.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s everything you want from a Trojan,\u201d said Stroud confidently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s what it\u2019s about. Being a Trojan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 LOS ANGELES\u2014 On a gray and humid summer afternoon at USC\u2019s Howard Jones field, Anthony Beavers Jr.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,88,14179,8242],"class_list":{"0":"post-162077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-tst-los-angeles","11":"tag-usc-trojans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114754263047410120","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}