5 NFL players from Hillgrove High run skills camp for youth at alma mater

Five active NFL players spent Sunday afternoon at their alma mater, Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs, to participate in the Hawks’ annual skills camp, making it one of the more star-studded camps in Georgia high school football history.

This year’s face of the camp was Myles Murphy, a 2023 first-round NFL draft pick and current Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman. Joining Murphy were current NFL players Evan Engram (Broncos), Chig Okonkwo (Titans), Jalen Royals (Chiefs) and Jaylen McCollough (Rams).

Hillgrove has had the most active players in the NFL the past couple of seasons.

This year’s free one-day event — officially called the Myles Murphy Foundation Football Youth Skills Camp — drew 168 young athletes, from kindergarten through eighth grade, all eager to learn from pros who once practiced on these fields and walked the same halls.

“Man, it’s a blessing,” said Hillgrove coach Justin DeShon, in his fifth season. “And it only happens because we have a good community and we have outstanding people that support a program because it’s a big deal, right? Getting to these guys and getting them out here and then getting all these tents, this isn’t about our football program. This is about our community.”

Murphy said that once he was drafted he told his parents he wanted to help youth from his hometown and also the children in and around Cincinnati. In his second year in the NFL, he started The Myles Murphy Foundation to do just that.

Murphy credits his former Hillgrove coach Phillip Ironside for not only his development on the field but off the field. Ironside started Hillgrove’s program when the school opened in 2006 and coached it through the 2019 season.

“So, it’s a lot about his character development, honestly, because it’s more than just physical development,” Murphy said. “But the character development that he (Ironside), coach (Joe) Gerda, coach (Luqman) Salam — all of those coaches, when I was back here at Hillgrove — just instilled in all the players, it just carried over through college and the NFL.”

Murphy was a two-time all-state player and made the AJC’s Super 11 team for his senior season in 2019. When he was a junior, Hillgrove was 12-1 and reached the Class 7A quarterfinals, losing by one point to Milton, the eventual champion.

Credit: WARREN J BUCHANAN SR

Credit: WARREN J BUCHANAN SR

Engram, who just finished his eighth NFL season as a tight end, led last year’s camp. Engram is a two-time Pro Bowl player who is no stranger to giving back to the community. He earned the Pop Warner National Collegiate Football Award in 2016 for his community work while at Ole Miss.

For Engram, giving back meant providing the experience free of charge. What he receives in return — the gratitude and the smiles on their faces — is priceless, he said.

“I just think offering the wisdom that we have, showing how relatable that we are, relating to these kids and giving these kids an example of what it takes to be great at anything they do in life, I don’t think that you should put a price tag on that,” Engram said.

Credit: WARREN J BUCHANAN SR

Okonkwo, in his fourth season in the league, also looked relaxed going through drills with the kids on the field. The newest NFL players, McCollough (2024) and Royals (2025), had to take in the moment, returning to where it all started for them.

DeShon said Royals, a fourth-round pick to the Chiefs this year, came back to the school after his rookie minicamp. He sat in on a wide receiver position meeting and gave some advice to the current team.

“I’m a rookie, and I’m learning a lot of new things as well,” Royals said. “So, I’m trying to help them out in the best ways — give them keys and tips to be successful.”

Of the group, McCollough was perhaps the most unexpected to make the NFL. Undrafted out of Tennessee, he signed with the Rams and made the 53-man roster. In his rookie campaign, McCollough played in all 17 games, recording 43 tackles for the Rams.

Credit: WARREN J BUCHANAN SR

Hillgrove has more NFL pedigree than just these five. Dolphins defensive end Bradley Chubb was a 2018 first-round NFL draft pick. He has played six NFL seasons and made two Pro Bowls. He did not play last season because of an ACL injury and did not attend Sunday’s camp, but he hopes to play again this season.

Hillgrove’s first NFL player was running back Kenyan Drake, a 2012 graduate. He retired in 2024 after eight years in the league, his best seasons with the Dolphins and Cardinals. DeShon said Drake was on the sidelines of Hillgrove games last season, celebrating with the team.

“Our tailback takes a ball 98 yards to the house against McEachern,” DeShon said of one memory of Drake last season. “Then as we’re going into the end zone, you see Kenyan Drake, and Kenyan’s going crazy. It’s just like — man, that’s special.”

Hillgrove beat McEachern, its crosstown rival in Powder Springs, 30-23 and went on to an 11-2 finish, the Hawks’ best season since that 2018 team that featured Murphy, McCollough and Royals.

Hillgrove’s NFL alumni forged their unity from recreation league through middle school to high school through shared effort, relationships and relentless work. Now, side by side, they’re passing that down to the next generation.

“Coach Ironside and his staff, just setting the foundation, setting a culture, and really implementing it to guys like me, to guys like Chig, Myles Murphy, Jalen Royals, Evan Engram, Kenyan Drake, like, the list goes on, man,” McCollough said. “The foundation work has been laid. That’s why we do stuff like this to come back and pour into the community and give Coach DeShon and those guys some extra support because once you wear those Hillgrove colors, man, you’re a Hawk for life.”