{"id":395903,"date":"2024-05-21T15:24:29","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T15:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=395903"},"modified":"2024-05-21T16:03:56","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T16:03:56","slug":"4-star-recruit-marco-jones-starts-youth-football-camp-raises-money-for-epilepsy-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=395903","title":{"rendered":"4-star recruit Marco Jones starts youth football camp, raises money for epilepsy support"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Marco Jones fits the recruiting profile of a high-level Division I program. At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, he\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">has the versatility to<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0play both linebacker and tight end for San Ramon Valley High School (Danville, Calif.). He&#8217;s described by recruiting experts as athletic with good instincts. He has played varsity baseball in both of the last two seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But in one way, he doesn&#8217;t fit the description of the kid typically recruited by the likes of Michigan, Texas, and Alabama: Jones was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a03\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">years old.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He suffered grand mal seizures as a kid before his epilepsy cleared at age 13, according to\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/sanfrancisco\/news\/epileptic-east-bay-football-star-hosts-skills-camp-kids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">CBS News Bay Area<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. But while the condition is behind him, Jones continues to help those who have epilepsy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last weekend, he hosted the inaugural Marco Jones Skill Camp for football players ages 8 to 13, per CBS. The camp on Sunday\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was dedicated<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to Helmets4Helmets, which raises money to provide kids with helmets that protect them from falls when suffering an epileptic episode.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/helmets4helmets.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">According to the organization&#8217;s website, Helmets4Helmets<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0was launched by brothers Brock and Bryson Thompson when they were 8 and 6 years old. Bryson began having seizures from epilepsy when he was 4, and his insurance would not cover the price of the prescribed helmet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The website states, &#8220;This floored the family\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0the boys decided no one else should have to deal with this.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Family friend Zach Strief, a former player on the New Orleans Saints, agreed to get them a helmet signed by Drew Brees to auction off and raise money to help buy helmets for other kids.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Luckily<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0I grew out of it,&#8221; Jones said to CBS.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;But\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">there&#8217;s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0some people who aren&#8217;t as lucky to grow out of it\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0so it&#8217;s a foundation that gives helmets \u2014 soft helmets \u2014 to kids with epilepsy to protect them if they have a seizure; protects their head if they fall.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">According to the outlet, at Jones&#8217; camp, players did speed and agility drills and played dodgeball. The outlet said most participants did not have epilepsy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">His mother, K.C. Jones, told CBS that Marco inspires people with or who have had epilepsy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;Now, if they see that someone like Marco &#8212; that everybody knows &#8212;\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">says<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0&#8216;Oh, I had epilepsy too,&#8217; it makes them maybe feel a little bit more normal,&#8221; she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cFWAHfe6DK\">https:\/\/t.co\/cFWAHfe6DK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thank you so much to everyone that came out to the camp yesterday! It was an awesome experience for me and my family as well. Big thank you to all of the sponsors that help make this camp possible and all of the coaches for coming and helping out! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mGevHjgY2i\">pic.twitter.com\/mGevHjgY2i<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Marco Jones (@MarcoJones2025) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarcoJones2025\/status\/1792614646563877156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Marco Jones, a four-star Div. I football recruit who had epilepsy as a kid, supported Helmets4Helmets at his inaugural youth football camp.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":286601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=395903"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395905,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395903\/revisions\/395905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/286601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=395903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=395903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=395903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}