Every year, a new crop of rookies are drafted or undrafted and signed into their new lives as NFL players, bringing them their dreams of playing on Sundays and all the fame that comes with wearing the National Football League Shield.

Putting on that NFL uniform also brings a lot of responsibility with it. Entering America’s No. 1 sport means that all eyes are upon you, whether you’re on the field or off.

To reinforce the importance of these added responsibilities, the NFL created a yearly camp for their newest players, where they have the ability to hear from current and former players and coaches about the rigors of life in the NFL.

Rams linebacker Chris Draft may be entering his 12th year in the NFL, but he always makes time to head south for the rookie symposium in order to impart some words of wisdom to the NFL’s newest players.

“The Rookie Symposium is a great opportunity for the rookies to get exposed to some of the pitfalls of being a professional athlete,” Draft said. “They get to see and experience some of the things that they can do to be more successful as a professional athlete.”

Draft had the opportunity to join the rookies in some of their life skills sessions. These sessions allowed the young guys to open up to each other, share a little about themselves and hear from veteran players and coaches about some of the things they may face in their future careers.

“What they were able to do is look back at themselves and get a taste of who they were and who they are now, role models and community leaders,” Draft said. “They’re not college guys anymore. Now, they are men playing in the NFL. With being a man, there are certain responsibilities. This is the No. 1 sport in the country. Because of that, there are going to be a lot of eyes on you. You can embrace that and do something positive, or you can try to fight it.”

Draft was able to share with the rookies some of the trials and tribulations of his own NFL career as well. He was able to give them insight on remembering where they came from and giving back, not only to their hometown but to their team’s town as well.

“There aren’t too many of those rookies that wouldn’t want to go back and improve their home town,” Draft said. “(The rookie symposium) is just kind of reminding them where they came from. Give yourself a chance to go back and improve it, but also take ownership of your new home. Take ownership and make a difference there too.”

Draft was also able to lead the NFL’s youth football camp that took place during the rookie symposium. The camp consisted of high school boys and girls from the West Palm Beach, Fla., area being run through football drills and learning a little bit about character as well.

“We had boys and girls, so right away the look is not about training NFL players,” Draft said. “It’s about being active, moving around, and that’s what the theme of the day was, Play 60, the fitness component of the NFL. In playing 60 and being around football, one of the key components for us is that football is not just about fitness, football also builds character. That’s what we were able to do, build character and increase the fitness of the youth.”

The youth camp was broken up into eight 15-minute sessions, with 10 minutes per session focused on getting the youth active and running around. Draft and the NFL Rookies devoted the other five minutes of each session to speaking with the youth about character and life skills.

The youth camp was broken up into eight 15-minute sessions, with 10 minutes per session focused on getting the youth active and running around. Draft and the NFL Rookies devoted the other five minutes of each session to speaking with the youth about character and life skills.

“After doing Draft Day® the week before, it was great to do a camp with the NFL that was really embracing the life skills part,” Draft said. “We had a chance to really talk about the game deeper than just throwing the ball around.”

Draft had a busy week in Florida as he also spent time with the National Parent Teacher Organization, participating in their annual Family Expo and National Convention.

Last month, Draft was introduced as a national ambassador for the National PTA. He was officially introduced as the PTA’s national ambassador at their National Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was able to speak to the crowd about how importance of a parent’s role in the lives of their children.

“We were fortunate to have Chris Draft involved in the PTA Family Expo recently in Florida,” said Charles J. “Chuck” Saylors, National PTA President. “Chris’ passion for engaging students and families in being active together was clearly evident during his Fitness Blitz at the Family Expo. His leadership on and off the field is a true asset to PTA and families across the country.”

Draft wasn’t at the PTA convention just to speak. He also did what he does best, assisted the PTA with running a health and wellness camp at their annual Family Expo. The health and wellness camp promoted the same message of the Draft Family Fitness Day, featuring health checkups, cooking demonstrations, performances and, of course, activities on the field with Draft.