Cardinals’ Bilal Nichols paying it forward with 3rd annual youth football camp

PHOENIX — Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Bilal Nichols’ grandparents, Adova and Dolores Bolton, have served as influences throughout his life.

Coming out of retirement and raising Nichols from a young age, they were always there leading by example and helping keep his head on straight.

They also realized early on Nichols’ physicality and love for contact, throwing him into football and providing the future NFLer with the resources needed to succeed.

That backing shaped who Nichols is today. And it’s a big reason why the defensive lineman has made it a point over the past three offseasons to host a youth football camp in his home state of Delaware.

“There’s a lot of good kids that came from where I come from, but some kids aren’t blessed to have some of the resources that I was able to have,” Nichols told Arizona Sports. “They’re generally great kids, but they don’t have that person they can turn to or that monumental person in their life that can keep giving them that push when things get hard. For me, it’s showing them that if you don’t have that person, I’ll always be there for you.

“I don’t turn down any kids. I don’t have a limit on my camps, I don’t have a number. I invite every kid. Every kid gets fed, every kid gets a chance to engage with me. I want to make it more personal. It don’t really mean nothing unless I’m personally involved. I want that connection with the kids one-on-one, because I think that’s the most important way to reach them.”

Kicking off Saturday at Paul M. Hodgson Vocational Technical High School in Newark, the free camp gives kids the chance to learn fundamentals from Nichols. Other fellow NFL players, plus college and high school players also serve as coaches.

The teaching goes beyond the football field for Nichols and Co.

“We teach the kids different fundamentals about the game but also the importance of being disciplined, putting the hard work in and being a good teammate,” Nichols said. “I’m just trying to provide them with that experience with dudes who have played at a high level, played in the NFL. Show those kids that this is definitely possible for them and just provide them with the chance to have fun and enjoy the day and making it more of a community-type of thing.

“At the end of the day, we’ve been blessed with this platform to be able to do what we do. I’m able to play the game that I love and had great resources. I just want to provide my community with that and let the kids know that it’s definitely possible to reach the same place I’m at or even higher.”

Despite dealing with rain the first two years of the camp, Nichols saw turnouts of about 280 and 320 kids, respectively. This year, his camp is expecting to set a new mark.

And as Nichols said, the more the merrier.

“We try to make it fun. It’s been three years of constant support, so every year, we’re just getting bigger and bigger,” he said. “More sponsorships, more kids — we’re providing the kids with more. It’s dope.

“Everything you accomplish off the field is great but a true representation of who you are as a person is what you do off the field. I take great pride in doing these things because I come from the environment where growing up we didn’t have people do things like this.”

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