(FAIRBURN, Georgia) -
As Eric Berry was cementing his name as one of the greatest safeties in the
history of college football, the park where he learned the game was facing a
crisis.
The city of Fairburn, Georgia, on the outskirts of Atlanta,
had just a reached a population of 3,500.
State law required for Fulton County to halt maintenance on the park at
that time. Fairburn residents filled the
gap and pitched in to help, but the park continued to decline.
As prospects of a professional career grew brighter, Eric
Berry stepped in to help. In a world
where professional athletes increasingly lose sight of the team concept and
exist with a sense of entitlement, Eric Berry is one of the good guys.
Eric, before ever playing a down in the NFL, launched the
Eric Berry Foundation and committed to build an AstroTurf field at Clarence
Duncan Park in Fairburn, a park managed by former University of Tennessee
running back James Berry, Eric’s father.
“You won’t meet any finer people than the Berry family,”
said Bryan Peeples, President of AstroTurf.
“This has been one of the most rewarding projects we’ve ever worked on.”
The field was built in 2010, with work commencing just days
before Eric departed to don the uniform of the Chiefs. Now entering its third year, the field at
Duncan Park is still making a tremendous impact.
“It’s meant a whole lot to the kids in the area,” said the
senior Berry. “It’s just like a drawing
card.”
James Berry says the field is being utilized anytime it’s
available and that people come from around the metro are to see it and play on
it. He cites it as a real asset to the
community.
Berry also says the field is a source for improved
performance among the young athletes in the area and a tool to increase
participation.
“Since this field has been installed, we’re getting better
practices out of the kids and we’re getting more showing up that want to be
there to participate in our program,” said Berry. “I can see that participation has picked up,
so overall, AstroTurf has done us a great favor by installing this field and
just working with us in the community.”
Berry said installation of the field put a lot of activity
into motion, which will help the Eric Berry Foundation achieve its long-term
6.5-year renovation goal at Duncan Park.
Berry says that because of the installation of the field, “we can
actually see the park coming back to life.”
It goes without saying that James Berry has a tremendous
amount of pride for his son on and off the field.
“It’s truly a blessing that the opportunity came along and
that he really wanted to just give back to the community,” said Berry. “This was one of the things he did. We all feel blessed and privileged that he
took the opportunity and showed us the love that he did by partnering with AstroTurf
and bringing this field to us.”
For Eric Berry, it’s still not enough. Improving opportunities for young people is a
personal mission he carries far beyond Duncan Park.
"I wanted to be different,” said the younger
Berry. “I wanted to be the one who said
I would come back after I made it and actually come back and show them. That's
always something I wanted to do."
Berry recently completed a series of four youth football
camps for kids in Fairburn, Knoxville, Kansas City, and Chattanooga. The camps drew hundreds of kids and proceeds
will go to the Eric Berry Foundation to help with projects similar to Duncan
Park in areas like Knoxville and Kansas City.
Berry did football drills and talked with the kids about
life lessons he has learned. He also
stayed afterward until every kid or parent got an autograph or a photo.
Molly Haynes, a Tennessee fan from Chattanooga, brought both
her sons to the recent camp in Chattanooga.
“I’ve been really impressed that he stayed the entire time,”
said Haynes. “He was out there on the
field with them and talking to them. I
think it says a lot about him in that he wants to give back to the community
and that the cost was really low for the kids to get to do all this.”
His willingness to give is something he learned from his
father.
"I've seen my dad do it. He didn't always have the
money to give back but he always gave his time to the younger kids. He's always
out in the community teaching them fundamentals and teaching them about
life," said Berry.
Not only is the third year of the Duncan Park AstroTurf
field approaching, but so is Berry’s third year in the NFL. If his work ethic and desire to be a part of
his community is any indication, Duncan Park, the NFL, and anyone who comes
into Berry’s orbit will certainly benefit.
After completing the camp in Chattanooga, Eric returned home
to Fairburn that night to visit with family before departing for training camp.
That night he posted a simple message on Twitter. It said, “Back where it started from.” Attached to the message was a photo of the
AstroTurf field at Duncan Park under the lights.
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