HOUSTON — Former Houston Texans wide receiver Cecil Shorts hosted his first Houston-based youth camp Saturday, inviting along over 100 youngsters to train alongside him and former NFL quarterback Clint Stoerner at Butler Stadium.

Shorts said the event is something that is very close to his heart.

“It’s an opportunity to impact the Houston youth,” said Shorts. “I’ve been doing my football camps every year in Cleveland for the last three or four years, and it’s been a huge success. We even got a seven-on-seven we just did last week up in Cleveland, and it was a lot of fun. So we are trying to instill that in Houston and just start it from the ground up. Today is the first day and we are super excited about it, and we plan on growing from there. It’s really fun.”

While one of the main priorities may have been to ensure the children had fun, it was evident that he was keen to pass on some of the lessons he believes football taught him.

“In particular, just to learn the game of football, something that taught me so much about this life in general: how to fight through adversity, how to communicate with your teammates, work ethic, how to communicate with each other,” said Shorts. “So, it’s a lot that goes into football, and I’m just trying to translate that into them, and then just have a great time. We’re here to have fun.”

A fourth-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011, Shorts was with the Texans for only the penultimate season of his career, 2015, but the city clearly left a lasting impression on the Cleveland native.

“This is something that we do every single year, so to bring it to Houston, somewhere we live at, somewhere we have passion for, it’s a lot of fun,” said Shorts. “This is somewhere I’ve been since 2015, and they have welcomed me like I’m family, like I’ve been here forever, and I only played a year and a half there. And they show so much love, so for me to give back, have [Texans mascot] Toro come out here, it’s really fun.”

It was noticeable how well Shorts interacted with the children on the day and took the time to coach them individually. Shorts said coaching is in his future.

“Yes, coaching is in my blood,” said Shorts. “My dad’s a high school coach, my uncle is, so coaching is in my blood. So, I’m going to coach eventually, just not sure when yet.”

And when he was asked whether he had seen any potential future stars of the game on display at his camp, his enthusiasm was plain to see.

“We got a lot of young kids that can go man,” said Shorts. “They can run, they’re energetic, there are really some good athletes, so that’s exciting.”