ARP, Texas — It was a special morning out at Arp City Park. There were smiles, signings, and school supplies galore as former Arp Tiger DeMarvion Overshown was in town.
"The love and support I get from them and you know being in the position I am now, being able to give back, I take huge honor in that you know," Overshown said.
This wasn't just a meet and greet though, Overshown took the opportunity to provide free school supplies and backpacks to kids in his own community.
"Any chance I'm able to do that, and especially for my home town, I'm jumping to it," Overshown said.
He didn't put this together all himself. Instead it was a family affair. The UT alum's family still resides near Arp, and they were more than happy to help him put this event on, and they say it's something that he really enjoys doing.
"Always willing to do what he has to do when it comes to the children, so again he loves doing what he's doing, and it's just a passion. So that's why we're here today, just to again support him and show him love before he leaves. And he's just giving it all back, signing, taking pictures, doing what he has to do," said Overshown's mother, Felicia Williams.
Speaking of the children in attendance today, there were plenty of youth football players on hand, each looking up to the things Overshown has accomplished.
"I think it's awesome. I just want to follow in his footsteps and make it to the NFL one day," said Arp resident and youth football player Jaxon Votaw.
DeMarvion was one of those kids with a dream once. He accomplished his goal of being drafted by the Cowboys, but of course, his first season was cut short before it started due to a right ACL tear the linebacker suffered in preseason. Almost a year later now, Overshown said he's just about fully recovered, and feeling better than ever.
"I know how I was feeling before the injury, and I can honestly say I feel ten times better," Overshown said.
So Overshown's feeling good - he's ready to make an impact on the field for Dallas. And according to him, he's just one small cog in an extremely talented roster that's ready to win now.
"I believe that this team's got all the pieces we need to do what we want to do, and when you walk around in that facility that's what it is, it's super bowl or nothing. So, the guys that we've got, I feel like anybody in the league would kill for our roster," Overshown said.
Cowboys training camp kicks off this Wednesday out in Oxnard, California, and Overshown didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to appear in front of his community. His message for them, pretty simple: "Hey, I did it, so you can too."
"I actually started my football journey maybe three minutes down the road from where we at right now. Hearing that I'm some of these kids role model, it makes me want to go even harder. So that makes me want to pour into them, so they know that it's possible. Being from Arp, Troup, anywhere small town, it's possible," Overshown said.