Seahawks’ Abraham Lucas hosts football camp at alma mater

Published 6:00 pm Monday, June 30, 2025

EVERETT — The ink had barely dried on Abraham Lucas’ rookie contract with his hometown Seattle Seahawks in 2022 when he had the idea to organize a youth football camp at his alma mater, Archbishop Murphy High School. The offensive tackle put it into action the following summer, creating the League Advantage Youth Football Camp. Saturday marked the camp’s third annual installment, where around 125 kids ranging from third to eighth grade took the field from 1-5 p.m.

In addition to playing football close to home, the 26-year-old Everett native still has family at the school — his brother, Andrew, currently plays on the football team, and his sister, Elianna, is the Director of Campus Ministry. Elianna Lucas was not involved in the camp’s first year, but she remembers Abraham Lucas voicing his desire to start it shortly after his initial rookie offseason activities.

“He was kind of like, ‘I’m gonna do this camp in the summer,’” Elianna Lucas said. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s like super neat that you’re doing something that is going to bring kids and youth, and get them here at Archbishop Murphy, a place that we really like and enjoy, and means a lot to us.’”

In collaboration with the school, which provides the facilities and some equipment, Lucas’ family handles the registration and organization. Unlike other summer football camps, it’s a complete volunteer effort. Registration is free for the campers, while current members of the Archbishop Murphy football team assist by running the individual drill stations. The camp relies on donations for everything from the t-shirts to the Chick-fil-A provided to the campers at the end of the day.

For Abraham Lucas, it’s never been about money. For one day, kids from all over the area have the opportunity to live out their dream, sharing the field with a hometown NFL hero.

“Fun is the forefront of it,” Abraham Lucas said. “This is not like some super elite, technical 7-on-7 (camp) or anything like that. It’s just like, let’s get some kids out here, moving around, having a good time and loving and enjoying the game of football. Because that’s where the dream comes from as a kid, is when you’re young and having fun playing it.”

Jana James, the Director of Admissions and Marketing at Archbishop Murphy, remembers when Lucas was chasing his dream in high school. Even after Lucas became a perennial all-conference player at Washington State and reached the NFL, James watches him roam the field with a Seahawks hat and megaphone and still sees the same student that used to poke his head into the staff area at lunchtime whenever he slept in before school and didn’t have time to pack food of his own.

“He’s still the same Abe,” James said. “Super humble, really hard worker, as he’s always been. So that’s really great to see, too. He had such a strong family growing up, so I think that’s probably why being in the NFL hasn’t really changed him. But yeah, he’s still the same kid that was walking these halls.”

While it’s no Friday Night Tykes-level boot camp, Lucas hopes to expose the campers to practical football drills and encourage healthy activity, in addition to having fun. The camp consisted of nine different stations that the kids would rotate through. After 10 minutes at a station, everyone would get a three-minute water break before moving to the next one. With a 40-yard dash, agility ladder and blocking pads among the stations, the campers experienced a wide range of football activities.

After the previous two years of the camp, the biggest thing Lucas has learned is how to adjust with the “chaos” of the younger children.

“It’s great, don’t get me wrong,” Lucas said. “It’s happy and everything, but you know, trying to contain it could be a bit of a challenge. … I get it, because I have a hard time paying attention as is, and a lot of young kids have a hard time paying attention, so it’s just like, patient reminders.”

For the campers, it’s a priceless experience, and in more ways than the literal cost. Twin brothers Jonathan and David Skoor were among the campers in attendance. The Eisenhower Middle School students enjoyed showcasing their receiving skills in the 1-on-1 drills, and are considering attending Archbishop Murphy once they reach high school. Seeing Lucas make it to the highest level of the sport and now give back to the community is inspiring their own dreams.

“(We’re) coming into our second year playing football, so I like this camp,” Jonathan Skoor said.

Added David: “It’s cool that it’s a little NFL guy that went here, made it to the Seahawks. Could happen to us, too. So it shows that maybe we’ll come back here and do the same thing.”

The twins’ mother, Jessica, is a teacher in the Everett School District and could not overstate the value of Lucas making his camp accessible to kids from all backgrounds.

“It means that my kids get access to skills and drills that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise,” Jessica said. “So being a single parent, it’s a great opportunity. It’s a great camp.”

For the student volunteers, the dream feels even closer. Jack Sievers and Henry Gabalis are both rising seniors committed to play at major Division I programs. Gabalis knows Lucas personally since his older brother, Victor, was Lucas’ roommate at Washington State, but even Sievers gets to learn from someone who was on the same path not long ago.

In addition to Saturday’s camp, Sievers, Gabalis and the rest of the team may experience Lucas’ impact even more this season. The school is finishing up developments on a new weight room as well as a field house, and have discussed naming it after Lucas. All Lucas would say about it is that it’s “a work in progress,” but the players are excited about his involvement regardless of whether or not it comes to fruition.

“I think he’s just doing this (camp) for, like, the culture and stuff that he wants to build up for his name and stuff,” said Gabalis, who is committed to Arizona. “It’s awesome how he does all this.”

Said Sievers, a Wisconsin commit: “It just says something about his character, and I think it sets an example. … Like we’re setting an example for the kids (that) are here, the younger kids; he’s setting an example for us too, as high schoolers, of what it means to give back and be a part of the community, and share that with other people.”

As the day went on, Lucas walked around the middle of the field, giving kids fist bumps and offering encouragement. While Lucas enters his fourth NFL season hoping for a cleaner bill of health after injuries have limited him to just 13 games over the past two years, his Everett football camp remains an unwavering fixture in his career and legacy.

“It’s just nice to see kids’ eyes kind of light up with the positivity and encouragement, knowing that they’re doing it right,” Lucas said. “You know, I’m just having a good time. Like I remember when I was a kid doing this sort of thing, and it was great.”