There's probably some kind of mathematical equation describing how the rowdiness level of room increases as you add teenage boys per square foot, but I don't know the specific math of it. What I do know, after Tuesday's Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation 4th & Life High School Football Forum at FedExField, is that roughly a thousand high school upperclassmen football players squeezed into a relatively confined space = a lot of rowdiness.The 4th & Life program -- sponsored by Coca-Cola, fact fans! -- is, in essence, a forum for current professional football players to impress upon high school football players just how important education is, and just how ephemeral a football career can be. Tuesday, it was Lorenzo Alexander, Kevin Barnes, Malcolm Kelly, and Brian Orakpo.They each addressed the students -- who were from all over Maryland, Virginia, and the District -- and then took questions in a Q&A format. Alexander, as the senior player, also served largely as the emcee of the event, but it was Kelly's story that best exemplified the kind of message the players were trying to convey."I came in ballin' during training camp [in 2008]," Kelly said. "Middle of training camp, right before preseason's gettin' ready to start, I'm in the starting rotation. Me, Santana Moss, and Antwaan Randle El. I go out there in practice, I was walking back from the huddle -- not out there running around, not out there jumping up and landing funny; I was walking back to the huddle -- I felt my knee give out, I fall to the ground."So just like that, it can be over. It can be done with. Luckily, I was able to rehab it and come back, and be able to fight for the number two spot or whatever. But it can be taken away, man, just like that. So you really gotta take advantage of your oppontunities."I never really listened to people talk about all that education stuff; I just let it go in one ear and out the other. But at the end of the day, that's the only thing that's guaranteed. That's the only thing that somebody cannot take away from you, man. What you know. The knowledge in your head, nobody can ever take that away from y'all."And that was a message that the players successfully brought across to a rowdy, fidgety, boisterous crowd of young men, not all of whom seemed to be exactly listening. Which came to a head, when -- strangely -- Lorenzo Alexander was fielding questions.I say "strangely" because Alexander is one of the nicest guys on a team full of nice guys. He's involved in his own charities, and also always helps out with the Redskins Charitable Foundation events. He's the kind of hard-working blue-collar player that would be endlessly praised by announcers if he played for the Patriots, always willing to contribute in any phase of the game.So he's pretty much the last guy you'd expect to see challenging a high school football team to a hitting drill.Here's what happened -- and forgive the lack of direct quotes, but it's all just a babble of screaming high schoolers on my recording. During the Q&A, a student from Suitland High asked Alexander what happened on his big takedown of Broncos' RB Lamont Jordan during the kick return following the Hunter Smith touchdown.Alexander's answer was similar to this one, which he gave to a reporter the following day. "I think it was just a great kick by Shaun [Suisham]," he said. "And [Jordan] wasn't supposed to catch the ball -- he was just the off returner, which really helped me out. And then [Justin] Tryon crossed his face, which kinda hid me. So he didn't even see me, and I just kinda bee-lined off of Tryon's butt and tried to run through him." Similar, except that I think on Tuesday he used the phrase "take his head off."So when the Suitland student took objection to that and pointed out that Jordan was a proud graduate of Suitland High, Alexander shrugged it off and said something along the lines of I can take you guys out too. This, understandably, was met with raucous booing from the Suitland contigent, which led to Alexander calling each guy out by the number on their jerseys, something like, Come on, 84. 16. 3. All of you, let's go right now! Something like that. This led to a whole lot of yelling back and forth and much more liveliness than you usually get at these sorts of charitable events."I can really relate to these guys," Alexander said afterward, "because I was probably being one of those jokesters with my friends, sayin' little funny stuff in the crowd too. You just gotta talk through it; I mean, they hear you, you gotta keep telling them over and over again, and eventually they'll get it, just hopefully sooner than later."The Lamont Jordan-from-Maryland angle hadn't registered in time, Alexander added. "I didn't know where he went; I knew he was from Maryland, because he used to play with the Raiders" near Alexander's hometown, "so I knew he was from this area. I didn't know he went there. But they were tryin' to call me out so, you know, I'm just lettin' 'em know that if they wanna get up and test me ... I mean, come on. They saw what I can do. Let me see what they can do. You know, you're always trying to call out the biggest and baddest dude you can find, so it was all in fun and games."The only other player who commented on the incident afterward was Orakpo, who shrugged. "I'd've had his back," he said.One other guy was also booed during the Q&A: Malcolm Kelly refused to replicate his now-legendary freestyle after the Big 12 Championship game. "That's freestyle, man," Kelly explained over the booing. "You can't just sit up here and do the same thing I did. If I'm gonna freestyle, I'm gonna freestyle, man. I gotta be hyped up. I really gotta be in the zone to do that." Kelly, however, did not follow up by challenging the questioner to a freestyle battle in the hallways of FedExField, which was something of a letdown. A Surprisingly Lively Fourth And Life Event originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments