On Friday evening, Xavier Edwards stood in Academy Sports + Outdoors on Airport Boulevard in Mobile trying to make up his mind. The two footballs were staying in the shopping cart, but he had some other decisions that were “really hard.”

A 9-year-old who’ll be in the fourth grade at Dixon Elementary School in Irvington this year, Edwards had to figure out how to spend $250 before he left Academy.

On Friday, Edwards had been looking forward to attending AJ McCarron’s free football camp on Saturday at Mobile Christian School. Although the camp will be McCarron’s 10th annual event, Edwards would be attending for the first time.

The trip to Academy on Friday? “I didn’t even know why I was coming here,” Edwards said.

The youngster found out he was there with 19 others registered for Saturday’s camp who had been chosen to receive a $250 gift card to spend in the fifth year that Academy and McCarron have partnered for the giveaway.

“I’m like, ‘Free stuff?’” Edwards said of his reaction.

The gift card gave the young lineman a jump on his preparations for his season with the Bayou La Batre-based Bayou Seahawks.

“It truly is a blessing to be able to give back to the city of Mobile and the kids here in our community,” McCarron said. “It’s our youth. Some of these kids might not have any hope, and it gives them real hope. Being able to be picked and randomly selected and have the opportunity to do something that might not be an everyday thing for them, that’s the blessing behind it all, and I’m just super thankful for Academy to be sponsored by them for a fifth year and for them to be a part of this. The kids having $250 to get whatever they want for that, it’s just awesome to be a part of.”

McCarron was an All-State football and baseball player at St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile. He went on to help Alabama win the BCS national championships for the 2011 and 2012 seasons as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback. McCarron won the Maxwell Award as the outstanding college player of the 2013 season, when he also was the runner-up in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy.

McCarron has had a nine-season NFL career and played two seasons with the St. Louis Battlehawks in the XFL and the UFL. But his most recent game came on June 9, 2024, and a hallmark of McCarron’s camp has been his determination to complete a pass to every camper. With more than 400 youngsters registered for Saturday’s event, that will be a lot of passes.

“The arm’s great,” McCarron said. “I’ve been throwing a baseball all summer, so I’m oiled up and ready to go. …

“It’s always a blessing to give back to the city that helped raise me and to help the youth find their way along the process, so it’s been a blessing. I’m just excited for this camp. It’s going to be a hot one tomorrow, but it’ll be fun to see the kids out there having fun and learning something about the game of football.”

Assisting the youngsters with their shopping on Friday were members of the Mobile Police Department. Last year at the shopping spree, the officers helped 15 youngsters spend $200 apiece.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.