By Brian Boyce
The Tribune-Star
Long before he was a Charger, a Dolphin, a Raven or Hoosier, Cam Cameron was a Honey Creek Bee.
And Friday afternoon, he told the student body of Terre Haute South Vigo High School his proudest title of all will always be Brave.
Back in town for the retirement of his high school jersey that night, the 49-year-old athlete stopped by his alma mater for a quick speech to a gym packed with students.
“Everything that I’m about, and what our family’s about, started here in Terre Haute,” Cameron told the students.
Born in North Carolina, Cameron’s family moved to Terre Haute in time for him to become a Honey Creek Middle School Bee while his stepfather served as football coach at Indiana State University.
Microphone in hand, Cameron’s steps paced the entire floor of the basketball court during his speech. Pointing to the bleachers full of students, he asked for a show of hands from fellow former Bees, as well as from the middle schools flowing into Terre Haute South Vigo High School.
Three decades may have passed, but the court was no stranger to the graying red-head’s feet. Cameron, a 1979 graduate, was a three-year starting quarterback for the Braves in a time when the school only serviced grades 10 through 12. He is also one of the few Hoosier high school hoopsters to have played in three consecutive final four basketball tournaments, reaching state each year he played. Cameron was a two-sport athlete at Indiana University, playing football as well as Hoosier basketball under Bobby Knight.
But professionally, Cameron has made his living as a football coach, advancing from an assistant at the University of Michigan to the Washington Redskins, Indiana University, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins and presently the Baltimore Ravens.
But any credit, he said, lies in the halls of Terre Haute South Vigo, where he was taught to strive to be the best on Earth at whatever it was he wanted to be. For Cameron, the question of what to be was never difficult. Standing at the basketball court’s far end, he asked the coaches in attendance if the team still entered the gym from the same doors, along the same lines, and warmed up under the same basket as they did back in the ’70s.
When he was a 13-year-old Bee, Cameron said he and the other middle schoolers were allowed to catch the rebounds of the varsity players warming up. He knew from an early age he wanted to be in the NBA or NFL, and said the secret he was taught as a Brave was to outwork everyone else wanting the same thing.
Find ways to be the hardest-working person working toward a goal, he advised, lauding the absence and accomplishments of swim team members on their way to the state finals as he spoke.
When asked by a student about the role academics played in his high school career, Cameron said he’d been a C and D student in elementary school. But that was before his stepfather gave him the requirement of being at least a B student if he wanted to play ball. And so those were the grades he maintained throughout his middle and high school years.
“I’m extremely proud to call myself a Terre Haute South Brave,” he said, noting the many different banners under which he’s played and coached. Representing Terre Haute well, he said, will always be his highest priority.
Going through the crowd, Cameron asked individual students about their talents and hopes. To the many who answered that they didn’t know, he said that’s not uncommon. But finding a direction and working hard toward it is ultimately the road to success.
“You guys have been awesome,” he said at the speech’s conclusion as the students prepared for a dismissal he’d promised not to delay. “Thanks for listening to an old man.”
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
