Brandon Copeland is living his life to honor his late grandfather, Roy Hilton.
Copeland, a former 10-year NFL linebacker who played with the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, Detroit Lions, New York Jets, New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, retired Aug. 21, 2023.
Copeland, 32, will host the Roy & Marie Hilton Youth Football Camp at 8 a.m. Saturday at St. Andrews Episcopal High School in Jackson. The camp and a lunch are free for student-athletes ages 11-17.
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Hilton, who died in 2019 at the age of 75, was born in Hazlehurst and attended Parrish High School. He went to Utica Junior College and transferred in 1963 to Jackson State, where he played defensive end before embarking on an 11-season NFL career. He is survived by his wife, Marie, 82.
Copeland said his grandfather showed him what is possible with hard work and wants to have the same impact on kids that his grandfather had on him. He encourages the athletes to bring their report card to his camp, where prizes will be awarded for good grades.
“That is the influence my grandfather had on me,” Copeland said. “How do I do it for a younger person who does not have a Roy or Marie Hilton in their lives? The goal has always been to go back where our grandparents are from and take care of the younger versions of themselves.”
The camp is not just about athletics but about community service, Copeland said. The athletes will put together 250 hygiene kits and 250 book bags, which will go to the homeless and underserved in the Mississippi area.
“The goal of our camp is to take blinders off kids and show them what is possible,” Copeland said. “My grandfather pulled the blinders off for me.”
Copeland will be joined at the camp by several current and former NFL players, including Copeland’s former Penn teammate and current Mississippi State Senator Bradford Blackmon, Cedric Donaldson, Lawrence Pillars, Channing Ward, Frank Sutton, Charlie Anderson, Aubrey Matthews and Jesse Mitchell.
Roy Hilton’s NFL success included Super Bowls
Blackmon said when he was a junior and Copeland was a freshman at Penn, Hilton asked Blackmon to look out for Copeland.
“After that, we became close,” Blackmon said. “We wanted to honor Mr. Hilton for his life and what he meant to his family.”
Hilton, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound defensive end, was considered a longshot to make the team after being drafted in the 15th round in 1965. But Hilton, No. 1 draft pick Mike Curtis, from Duke and offensive lineman Glenn Ressler of Penn State were the only three rookies to make the team.
One of the career highlights for Hilton was playing in Super Bowl III in 1968 against the upstart AFL’s New York Jets with quarterback Joe Namath, who guaranteed a victory three days before the game. Namath delivered, the Colts lost 16-7, forever changing the NFL.
Hilton would feel the elation of being a world champion two seasons later as the Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 in Super Bowl V. In that game, Hilton had four tackles, including 1.5 sacks, and hurried Cowboys quarterback Craig Morton into an interception that set up the tying touchdown.
But Hilton’s biggest thrill may have been getting to watch his grandson play in the NFL.
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“I bumped into an old teammate of mine,” Hilton said in a 2014 interview on “The Sports Life with Temeko Richardson.” “It was like taking a step toward heaven to be able to say, ‘Hey, my grandson, Brandon (Copeland), is in the NFL’. That was the ultimate.”
And now, Copeland is sharing some of what his grandfather gave him.
“To be able to come back and to start to build this legacy,” Copeland said, “a legacy around football in a sport that has given my family so much. Our family has been changed because of football. We are excited to come back to Mississippi.”
J.T. Keith is the HBCU sports editor for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at JKeith@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @JTKEITH1.