Before wearing an Odessa High jersey, Bradley Marquez had the chance to look up to Odessa native Roy Williams.

Williams played under the lights on Friday nights at Ratliff Stadium, just as Marquez did a decade later. Both went on to the Big 12 Conference as wide receivers and eventually, played on Sundays in the NFL.

Marquez was shown by Williams, along with former Broncho and current New England Patriots offensive lineman Marcus Cannon, that the Permian Basin’s youth have professional potential.

That was the impetus for Marquez to start an annual youth football camp at Ratliff Stadium last summer and he returns tonight for the second edition.

The Bradley Marquez Football Camp begins at 6 p.m. in the same facility that made stars of Williams, Cannon and Marquez.

Proceeds from the camp will go toward a new children’s learning center, according to the YMCA’s website.

The camp has been sold out for weeks, with 350 participants taking part in the camp led by the current Detroit Lion.

“ I’m really excited for the second annual,” Marquez said last month while meeting fans at the YMCA of Odessa. “We’ve had a little more time to prepare for this one than we did last year and doing last year on such short notice and having the success it did, now having more time is something we wanted to take advantage of and make better, that’s for sure.”

Marquez saw the biggest hurdle from last year’s camp as the price of admission. He knew it could be lowered, so he worked with sponsors and donors while preparing the event to get the price to $5.

“ That was the biggest goal, to get the price down, if not free,” Marquez added.

While last year’s camp was Marquez’s first time back on the Ratliff turf since he wore a Bronchos uniform, this year will be the first time he’ll be back under the lights where he made a ton of memories.

Before he played on Saturdays at Texas Tech, Marquez was named the Odessa American’s All-Permian Basin Offensive MVP in 2010.

“ This place holds a special place in my heart, it’s always home,” Marquez said about Odessa. “My family still lives here and a bunch of these kids don’t get the exposure as some of the kids in the bigger cities. But I just want to be a symbol showing that it’s possible to come out of here.

Marquez said he hopes to show campers for a second straight summer that hard work is the key to your dreams.

“ I’m definitely not the only one, just probably the younger one to have done it in the past few years,” Marquez said. “Guys that came before me like Roy, Marcus, those are the guys that inspired me to be able to know that it’s possible to come out of here and be successful.”

If Marquez has his way, this will be far from the last football camp he holds in Odessa.

“ We want to definitely just continue to grow it hopefully over the years just as long as the kids continue to want to come back, I’d love to come back and do it,” Marquez said.

Marquez won’t be the only NFL player under the lights tonight. Each of the five players advertised on the YMCA’s website has ties to the state of Texas.

Deandre Washington, Jakeem Grant and Jace Amaro all played football at Texas Tech before joining the Raiders, Dolphins and Chiefs respectively.

Malcolm Brown was a Texas Longhorn and now is a running back for the Rams. Rounding out the group is Ashaad Mabry, a San Antonio native who played college football at UTSA. The defensive tackle was signed by the Panthers in May.

The campers could see all six NFL players on TV after attending the camp in person. That’s partly why Marquez scheduled the camp close to training camp and two-a-day practices.

“ July is big because of being so close to football season for those kids as well … once this camp comes, football is that much closer to everybody,” Marquez said.
