WINCHESTER, Va. (WHSV) – An NFL player from Winchester is returning home this weekend for a special football camp on Saturday. Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Back Nazeeh Johnson is hosting the event for his 13′s Promise Foundation which works to help children and families affected by mass incarceration.
“The camp is just mainly about giving back to my hometown of Winchester for supporting me throughout the couple of years I’ve been in the league. Just giving back and showing the kids that whatever they put their mind to they can achieve, everybody can relate because I came from that area,” said Johnson.
For Johnson, the issue of mass incarceration hits close to home. He wants to help give back and provide kids with the kinds of options that helped him through his own family struggles growing up.
“For me growing up, my family was incarcerated. I had people in my family that were incarcerated but I had outlets like football, I had after-school programs that I’d be able to go to, so I didn’t have to follow the same path as my parents and stuff like that,” said Johnson. “This camp is just going to open doors, help get money to have those after-school programs, have those football camps, and have those football leagues so kids can have things to do instead of just sitting at home having nothing to do and getting in trouble.”
The camp is free for kids, but 13′s Promise has been collecting donations and raising money to help schools in Winchester and Kansas City fund after-school programs and resources to help kids develop and grow.
Johnson said that having after-school programs and playing football made a huge difference in his life.
“I had other things to put my mind to I didn’t go home and just sulk about ‘Dang my parents are going through this and that’. I had an outlet; football was something where I could just decompress and get away from what was going on in my life. I think a lot of kids need that outlet, a lot of people don’t understand what these kids go through,” he said. “Football gave me an outlet to grow and say, ‘I want to be better than what my parents were’ Hard work and dedication got me to this point. I just want to give back because there is going to be a next person in Winchester going through the same thing who could be the next NFL player to get drafted.”
Johnson played college football at Marshall and was drafted by the Chiefs in the 7th Round in 2022. He is part of the team that has won the last two NFL Championships.
“The experience has been amazing man. It’s been very humbling, when I first got to the league, I got cut so I had to deal with that, but it actually made me better because I worked a lot harder. I got to learn the playbook better and I learned how to play corner,” said Johnson.
Johnson led the Chiefs in special teams tackles in 2022 and was competing for a starting spot-on defense in 2023 before tearing his ACL. Now he is back on the field and preparing to compete for a starting spot-on defense once again.
“I just want everybody to know just work, put your head down and work. Don’t listen to the outside noise because a lot of people think they know what they’re talking about and really don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors. So I’m just working and hopefully all my hard work and dedication pays off and you’ll see me out there in a bigger role,” he said.
Johnson’s football camp will be held at John Handley High School in Winchester on June 8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It was free to register and will welcome children ages 6-17.
“We’re just going to show them different drills. I think mainly it’s going to be 10 stations and they’ll do different types of drills, DB drills, QB drills, we may have a relay race here and there,” he said. “I may have some kids try to go against me where they play wide receiver and I play DB against to see if they can beat an NFL corner and things like that. But it’s mainly just about developing kids to see if they’re interested in football and to give them something to do to be active.”
You can learn more about the camp here.
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