Windsorite and Dallas Cowboys Defensive End Tyrone Crawford is starting a football academy in his hometown.

Yesterday marked the first of what Crawford hopes to be an annual event, held at the University of Windsor, where he and a number of other NFL stars lend knowledge to local high school-aged players.

He says it’s important to pass on certain fundamentals at a young age. “We wanted to reach a lot of high school kids this year because we see it out where I play ball at, whether it be in California or Boise State, or Dallas now. These kids all get to interact with NFL guys and guys that made it pro, and we just want to do that for our city.”

Other NFL players who participated in yesterday’s camp include LaSalle’s Super Bowl champ Luke Willson, Crawford’s cousin Daryl Townsend of the Montreal Alouettes and Rod Streater of the Oakland Raiders.

To learn more about future Windsor’s Finest Football Academy events, visit www.netcamps.com/wffa.