A lifetime of memories will be rekindled today as Alfred Morris and Doug Baldwin meet again on the football field in D.C.
They met at the age of 5, on the practice field for the Salvation Army Tigers. They played together from 1994 to 2002, beginning as Mini-Mites and ending as Juniors.
Salvation Army is the Foundation
This duel has ties that certainly bind. The key to the relationship revolves around Salvation Army.Athletically, both Baldwin and Morris were gifted at a young age. As they recalled, their teams only failed three times to win the area’s youth league championship.
But the reasons they reached the NFL — Baldwin went on to star at Gulf Breeze and Stanford, Morris at Pine Forest and Florida Atlantic — involve lessons instilled from a program Lumon May, one of their coaches and director of the community center at the time, called the "4 Bs of life."
"The Bible, book, ball and balance. It’s about being a good Christian, academics, athletics and then balancing that within your life," May said. "Doug and Alfred are such wonderful examples that the program works. The long hours every Saturday — all the coaches, all those involved with every aspect of the program to help these kids — it feels good your labor has not been in vain."
Through the community of sports and family created at the Salvation Army, a special friendship was forged.
Neither Baldwin nor Morris would give up secret stories from their youth, but they spent a lot of time together. Morris was a regular at the Baldwin house, where spaghetti was a mainstay and the young kids made silly home videos on VHS.
"All our coaches … they were like an extra set of parents. They took care of us, they fed us after games, all the parents brought snacks — it was like one big family," Morris said. "We have so many skills today — the value of education, how to compete, sportsmanship, respecting others, teamwork — and it all stems from the Salvation Army."
Their helmet emblems are different now, but you can still see the pawprint on their lives. Once a Salvation Army Tiger, always one.
Truncated from: http://www.pnj.com/article/DP/20130106/SPORTS/301060028/Alfred-Morris-Doug-Baldwin-duel-D-C-
Listen to the interview now:
