by John McCann

Durham Herald-Sun

Apr 29, 2009

Some big paydays over the weekend as some of the best players in college football signed sweet NFL contracts.

But some great, young football players around here just got paid, too. Guys like Toney Smith -- dude's just 9 years old!

"They're a good organization," Smith said of his franchise, the Durham Eagles (www.durhameagles.com). "And they have some pretty good coaches who can teach you what you need to know about football."

And kids like Toney who listen to those coaches and hit the books as hard as good running backs hit holes on the line of scrimmage get paid.

Toney was among 27 aptly named Elite Eagles awarded $1,000 scholarships for demonstrating outstanding performance both on and off the field.

What? Oh, the big deal about $1,000? Look, $1,000, $100, $10 or even $1,000,000, it's all the same to a kid. The point here is when talk turns to Hillside High School football players Corey Gattis and Desmond Scott having scholarships to Duke University, these Elite Eagles legitimately will be able to tell folks they have scholarships, too. Which is the sort of thing that can lead youngsters who never really thought much about college down the road of getting their homework done and prepping for the SAT and all of that.

Sherman Ragland III came up through the Durham Eagles. Don and Bobetta Jones founded the organization 16 years ago. The Durham Eagles not only equipped Sherman with the fundamentals of football but also presented an academic target in that he knew he wouldn't play in the games on Saturdays if he didn't bust his tail in Ms. So-and-So's classroom Monday through Friday.

Sherman last season played football for Southern High School. He's a sophomore, and the Elite Eagle plans to use his scholarship at UNC.

But if an Elite Eagle wants to use his scholarship for barber school, then that's cool, too, said Scott Stankavage, who, by the way, is the only UNC quarterback ever to have taken a snap under center in the NFL.

What made these scholarships possible was Stankavage, Jones, Tee Moorman and Johnny Ratcliffe establishing the Durham Eagles Foundation. What's making the foundation and the league itself work are community folks who actually give a hoot, be they financial supporters or committed coaches like Dave Potter.

The scholarships are waiting for the Elite Eagles at the Triangle Community Foundation. Stankavage quipped that the reason he had the awards ceremony at the foundation's offices at the American Tobacco Campus is so the boys will know where to come to get their money.

Which is the thing: These Elite Eagles now have to actually make it to college. See, the bulk of them aren't in high school like Sherman. So they have to get through middle school and even elementary school. A whole lot can happen between now and high school graduation.

But Oak Grove Elementary School teacher Freda Andrews isn't worried about Toney. The third-grade teacher said she can tell whether or a not a student is going to succeed, and Toney's going places, she said.

Andrews cared enough to attend the presentation. Mayor Bill Bell was in the house, too, and he spoke to the boys.

Trevion Thompson, 13, is an Elite Eagle and, according to Stankavage, simply a phenomenal athlete out there on the football field.

But Trevion will tell you basketball is his best sport.

Oh, everybody wants to be LeBron James and waste powder before games.