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Bills running back James Cook hosts youth camp at Rensselaer High School – Troy Record

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Buffalo Bills running back James Cook and FlexWork Sports hosted the James Cook Youth Football Camp at Rensselaer Junior/Senior High School on Sunday, July 7, 2024. (DREW WEMPLE – MEDIANEWS GROUP).

RENSSELAER, N.Y. — Four hundred kids from the Capital Region got the chance to “circle around the wagons,” in the words of the great Chris Berman, as Buffalo Bills running back James Cook came to Rensselaer Junior/Senior High School on Sunday, hosting “The James Cook Youth Football Camp” with FlexWork.

The event ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and participants, ages 6 to 16, had the chance to take pictures with the Bills’ star rusher, play a brief two-handed touchdown game with Cook at quarterback and also participate in corresponding drills, mirroring a summer training camp.

In addition to the 400 student-athletes, nearly 100 volunteer coaches, medics, hydration supervisors and registration staff helped keep the camp organized, safe and enjoyable.

Everyone was stunned by Cook’s arrival, with a check-in line stretching across the parking lot, from the Rensselaer High football field, and many memories of former Bills shared during the wait, proving the local gravitas he carried.

Cook rushed for 1,122 yards last season, with two touchdowns, as the Bills went 11-6 in the regular season and won the AFC East for the fourth straight season. In his second year since being drafted in the second round out of the University of Georgia, Cook has not only taken over Buffalo’s backfield, but has also become a valuable target through the air for star quarterback Josh Allen, with 485 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Catching a touchdown pass from Cook appears to have brightened the day of the Capital Region youth, who also have a budding passion for football.

FlexWork Sports is an event management and marketing company specializing in the development and operation of camps, hosting experiences for professional athletes and coaches. In addition to Cook, FlexWork partners with a variety of NFL talent, such as New England Patriots pass-rusher Matthew Judon, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud, New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson and many others across the country.

Proceeds from Sunday’s camp with the Bills star went to provide scholarships to help people like the 400 kids in the Capital Region pursue their passions in the future.

But for one day, they were all “Bills Mafia.”

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