Community Fun Day: 'Every picture, every autograph ... it's never too much'

Jul. 10—ELIZABETHTOWN — Larrell Murchison brought smiles to a lot of faces.

Young and old, those that know football and many that didn't. For one Saturday afternoon on the football field of Elizabethtown Middle School, what mattered was people enjoying themselves. And did they ever.

Larrell Murchison's Community Fun Day is due in part because he's in the NFL and wanted to give back to a hometown that has shown him nothing but love through his time playing for East Bladen High, Louisburg College, N.C. State and now the Tennessee Titans. The day, he said as it wound down and continued to sign autographs and pose for pictures, was more successful than he could have imagined.

"They showed up today," he said, taking a breath to consider what had happened around him. "I appreciated it so much. The support I got from my hometown — every picture, every autograph ... it's never too much. Them showing love, wanting autographs ... it's never too much."

Though well-planned with choices of activities keeping the young people moving, the day's host did get one surprise. And it's hard to imagine it being more electric.

DJ Fedd, his former N.C. State teammate also known as Joshua Fedd-Jackson, was orchestrating a Tik Tok dance competition when he lured Murchison to the mic. The 6-foot-2, 297-pounder didn't disappoint. Youngsters and adults alike went crazy for his unbridled rendition of Keyshia Cole's "Love."

"I didn't know he was going to do that," Murchison later said through a big smile of his own.

Glenda and Milton Murchison's little boy has grown to be a man among men in arguably the most popular American sport. Though she knew he could rap but got a surprise like everyone else when he sang, she says he hasn't forgotten where he came from. There's always a visit to 77-year-old Rosa Lesane when he's here, and she describes a helpful spirit about him that would make any mother proud.

"Every time he comes home, he goes to see her, because he says he'll get the truth," Glenda said of Larrell's visits to god-grandmother Lesane.

He'll also hop out of the car to help a stranger in need, as she witnessed one night after leaving Giorgio's.

"It's great for the first time," she said of the day's activities. "We plan for it to be annually."

And that'll make a lot of youngsters in Elizabethtown happy.

They were running wide open for nearly four hours on this 90-plus degrees day, spurred by the Titans' second-year lineman who brought along friends Teair Tart of the Titans, Alim McNeill of the Detroit Lions, Kobe Smith of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and D.J. Wonnum of the Minnesota Vikings.

James Smith-Williams of the Washington Football Team, like McNeill a former teammate with the Wolfpack, was scheduled but unable to make it due to illness.

Charmaine Washington, 29, was happy for the community's youngsters.

"This is good for the kids to come out," she said after snapping a photo of Murchison with her brother, 7-year-old Sincere, and her daughters Lauren, 6, and London, 4. "This is something a lot of people haven't done.

"Larrell is an overall good guy."

And, to be able to bring other NFL players with him, she said, "You know he's a cool guy to get them to come out."

Doris Kyle, of Elizabethtown, said she grew up about 30 miles outside of Detroit. Naturally, the Lions were her team. Since she's been here, she said it's been "the Washington Redskins and the Carolina Panthers."

But not anymore. Not when the Titans took Murchison in the fifth round in the spring of 2019.

"I'm a Tennessee Titan fan," she said with pride and a big smile.

And she's delighted at Murchison's offering.

"It's wonderful," she said of the day that drew more than a couple hundred kids plus parents. "It's the first time a young black person is giving back to the community."

Jeremiah Budget, 5-foot-9 and 210 pounds, is a sophomore at East Bladen. He's played Pop Warner and middle school football, but there was no junior varsity football this past year at the high school.

"It's something I enjoy," he said after putting a move on the light-guarding Murchison during a football drill.

He and his friends gave Murchison and his NFL buddies high marks for what was put together.

"Murch is extremely friendly," Tart, Larrell's Titans teammate, said. "He's hard-working, as hard a worker as I've been around. He's easy going. If I have some struggles, he'll help me. He's helped me study the playbook."

The two had never met before getting to Nashville. Tart's description fits with what Murchison's high school coach Robby Priest has long said and preached to every one of his teams — "be a good teammate."

Murchison said he wanted the day to create an opportunity, mainly in the name of fun. And there's a message.

"You can be anything you want to be," he said. "Don't let nobody set your limitations for you.

"My plan is make a greater impact the longer I live."

Mission accomplished, many times over, for his first Community Fun Day.

Alan Wooten can be reached at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com. Twitter: JournalBladen.