Ten years ago, 16-year-old Terry Bradden took a bus trip to Miami with other high school football players from Riviera Beach.
New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett speaks to campers in Riviera Beach Friday. (Jodie Wagner/Palm Beach Post)
The group, which included future NFL players Jacoby Brissett and Curt Maggitt, took in a Miami Dolphins game, courtesy of the newly created T.E.A.M. Elam Foundation.
The non-profit organization, founded by former Palm Beach County football standouts Abe Elam and his younger brother, Matt, strives to provide opportunities to inspire and motivate Palm Beach County youth and their families.
That bus trip was the first of many T.E.A.M.Elam initiatives designed to combat violence and negative influences by introducing youngsters to positive influences.
Bradden, now a defensive assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs, recalls it well.
“I remember the first trip,” said Bradden, who played high school football at Inlet Grove. “Abe took us down to the Miami Dolphins. He’s been a great mentor to me.”
Brissett and Maggitt, who starred at Dwyer and later at N.C. State and Tennessee, respectively, before embarking on NFL careers, say the same.
And now they’re returning the favor.
Atlantic runs a play as part of the T.E.A.M. Elam Foundation 7-on-7 tournament Friday. (Jodie Wagner/Palm Beach Post)
Brissett, Maggitt and Bradden, along with fellow Riviera Beach native and New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis, returned to their hometown Friday to assist with a T.E.A.M. Elam Foundation-sponsored event that included a 7-on-7 high school football competition and youth football and cheerleading clinics.
“We’re out here supporting the community, supporting the kids,” said Maggitt, a free agent linebacker.
“We’re showing them just because we got the opportunity to graduate college, and we fulfilled our dreams of playing NFL football, we’re not too big to come back and show that it’s possible.”
“I grew up with this event,” added Brissett, who started two games for the New England Patriots last season during Tom Brady’s suspension. “I just wanted to give back to them, and have fun with the kids.”
More than 100 Riviera Beach youngsters took part in Friday’s activities, and join thousands more who have been positively impacted by the T.E.A.M. Elam Foundation during the past decade.
“I’ve been blessed to have people in my life who support me through my ups and downs,” said Abe Elam, a former Cardinal Newman standout who played college football at Notre Dame and Kent State before entering the NFL. “I wanted to be able to come back and do the same thing with our next generation.”
For information on the T.E.A.M. Elam Foundation, click here.
