DeKALB | For Jordan Delegal, it was a tweet.

It was July 14 and the tweet was a simple response from current Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, whom Delegal grew up watching when the safety was a Miami Hurricane.

That tweet brought back memories for the NIU linebacker of the excitement of meeting Reed as a kid.

It’s a feeling the senior is more than happy to pass along to others.

When Delegal and a pack of Huskies showed up to the DeKalb Bengals football camp last week, it was mission accomplished.

“If I can give that moment to someone else, that’s the biggest thing for me,” Delegal said. “This is just who I am. It doesn’t make me go out of my way to do something like this.”

Bengals president Michael Albert approached Delegal in class. The topic was the Bengals inaugural camp in 2010.

Founded in November 2009, the Bengals are a team in the DeKalb Youth Football League. They’re a feeder system for the DeKalb Barbs high school team, hosting three different teams that span ages 6 to 12. The Benglas have no affiliation with NIU, but with the help of Delegal and former NIU head coach Jerry Kill, the Huskies and Bengals were in business.

“We came out last year after I had a class with Big Mike, and he asked me about doing it,” Delegal said. “I love working with kids. If I can help out in any way, I’m thrilled to do so.”

When Kill abruptly left to coach for Minnesota in December, Albert was back to square one. He had no contacts in the new coaching staff to organize this year’s camp, so he reached out to Delegal again, this time through Facebook. Once word was passed around to the NIU players, they showed up in droves.

Over 40 players and coaches appeared at the old DeKalb High School for the four-day camp, which ran Monday through Thursday. Among those representing NIU were quarterback Chandler Harnish, head coach Dave Doeren, defensive backs coach Richard McNutt and former Huskies Alex Kube and Tracy Wilson.

“Coach McNutt was out here everyday helping out with drills,” Albert said. “Him and coach Doeren are really, really committed to helping us out.”

The commitment went as far as the Huskies canceling their seven-on-seven workout Wednesday night to bring the entire team to the Bengals camp.

Aside from the on-field impact the Huskies were looking to achieve – teaching kids the basics of football – they were looking at the bigger picture. All the Huskies in attendance stuck around after camp to sign autographs and talk to the kids. The real impact they were looking for went well beyond the boundaries of a football field.

“A lot of older people talk about the younger people committing crimes, but nobody wants to mentor,” Kube said. “That’s what we’re out here doing. They look up to us and we want to do this for the community. We’re not just any Division-I program. We’re the program down the street.”

By living up to a role model expectation, the Huskies were giants, and not just in physical stature. They made what Delegal called a “tremendous impact” on a group of kids that look up to them and gave them something they’ll always remember.

It wasn’t an inconvenience. It was just the feeling Delegal wanted to share the entire time.