BATON ROUGE — In another example of LSU student-athletes making a positive impression on local youth, quarterback Jimmy Welker spoke to participants in a Denham Springs football camp on Thursday.
Welker, a three-year walk-on member of the Tiger football team who serves as the scout team quarterback, gave a motivational speech to the Southside Patriots Football Camp in Denham Springs. The youth ranging in age from 6-12 visited with the Tarzana, Calif., native, as he signed autographs and took photos with the players.
The speaking engagements are sponsored by the Shaquille O’Neal CHAMPS/Life Skills program. The CHAMPS (Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success)/Life Skills Program was designed by the NCAA to help student-athletes realize higher academic achievement, increase likelihood of graduation and enter a chosen profession with a higher level of vision, knowledge, motivation, self-responsibility and greater overall success. In Spring 2003, the CHAMPS/ Life Skills Program at LSU honored one of the Tigers’ most memorable graduates, Shaquille O’Neal, by naming the program after him.