You could hear Uchenna Nwosu's cadence from across the field.
But this wasn't an NFL stadium.
This was the Field of Dreams recreational park in San Pedro where on Friday, Nwosu coached and cheered on a co-ed group of middle schoolers from the Boys & Girls Club of Carson Main Street Clubhouse's NFL Flag football team as they went on to notch a 37-13 victory.
See, while Nwosu is entering his second year in the NFL, he's in the middle of his first as the coach of this team – the appropriately named Chargers.
"It means a lot to see the smiles on these kids' faces, especially after the win they had," Nwosu said. "Everybody was involved, and everybody was happy, so it felt good."
As a native of Carson, it was of the utmost importance for Nwosu to give back to his community in some way, so he decided to turn to coaching the team. The group practices two times per week and has games on Fridays. Additionally, all jerseys, shorts and registration costs for the whole team were covered courtesy of the Los Angeles Chargers.
"This community gave a lot to me; the city of Carson," he reflected. "So to be able to come back and give any way I can, especially to the younger community, it's very good. I didn't go to the Boys and Girls Club growing up, but I knew there was a way I could get involved so I figured why not the Boys and Girls Club?"
Nwosu said he grew up watching a lot of various athletes who greatly impacted his life. For him, what better way to pay that forward than to actually do the same for others? Not only is he teaching them about the game of football, he's helping them learn the things he gleaned from his coaches who have touched his life along the way.
"Kids don't normally get to hang out with NFL players, so to give them that experience is cool. I'm teaching them teamwork, playing together and to never give up and play hard. It's stuff that our coaches teach us. They're the next generation. They're the ones (who will lead) after we're gone. So to instill positivity and lessons in them that they can carry on will be good."
