Football camp a welcome respite from NFL business for Stephon Gilmore

Stephon Gilmore took a break from the business of football Tuesday to host his Skills and Drills youth football camp at South Pointe.

Gilmore is crossing choppy contract waters this summer as he enters his fifth year in the NFL and the final year of his rookie contract. He and the Buffalo Bills are steadily approaching an awkward impasse as the cornerback seeks a new contract similar to those awarded in recent years to other defensive back stars like Patrick Peterson and Richard Sherman. The team is juggling its desire to keep its best talent while deciding whether the Rock Hill native is worth the big bucks.

The stoic Gilmore has kept his true feelings out of the media.

“Nobody never know what I’m thinking,” he said, grinning.

The ball is in the Bills’ court.

Gilmore and his agent, Jason Chayut, seem pretty set that he is worth at least the same as Peterson and Sherman. Gilmore plays on an island by himself in Buffalo, a platform afforded him by Bills coach Rex Ryan’s defensive beliefs. The former Stallion and Gamecock standout excelled last season, intercepting three passes and successfully defending 18 passes (top-10 in the league), before a shoulder injury ended his year after 12 games. A recent Sports Illustrated article rated Gilmore as the third best outside cornerback in the entire league, ahead of Josh Norman, Darrelle Revis and several other big names, and Pro Football Focus called his tandem with fellow Buffalo corner Ronald Darby one of the best in the league.

That could lead a player to screaming “pay me,” but part of being a professional is compartmentalizing emotions.

“For me it’s easy,” Gilmore said as kids chucked footballs through the air behind him. “It’s a business, you’ve just got to take it for what it is. You know what you can do, you know what type of player you are, just keep putting it on film and whatever happens, happens.”

All the swirling questions were left at the Rock Hill city limits on Tuesday. Gilmore remembers his dad taking him to NFL players’ camps when he was little and it was always his intention to return the favor one day.

“It takes you back to back in the day what we used to do,” he said. “It’s fun to be around the kids and get them out here for some drills and feed them and take care of them. That’s one thing I wanted to do when I was growing up.”

Instead of mulling over annual salary numbers, Gilmore was making sure the pizza delivery was set up. He lobbed passes into the arms of kids probably unaware of how unusual it is to catch footballs from an NFL star.

Manhattan-based Chayut, who represented Sheldon Brown, Dunta Robinson and a number of other Gamecocks defensive backs, was also at the camp Tuesday supporting his client. He didn’t have much to say about the contract issue and neither did Gilmore.

He’s been training on his own and he did attend the Bills’ offseason team activities back in June - in part to avoid a fine. Because the team picked up his fifth-year option, the 25-year old will make over $11 million in 2016, a huge jump from the roughly $3 million he made last season. So far, there hasn’t been talk of a Gilmore hold-out.

“Some guys get caught up in that money thing and how much they’re gonna make,” said Stevie Gilmore, Stephon’s dad. “Basically, he’s ready to get going, get started and get the season going.”

Back at the school where his career first heated up, Gilmore was in good spirits, especially when his 15-month old son Sebastian - they call him “Bash” - toddled past. Gilmore said his son’s first word was “ball.” Bash’s presence at the camp was a reminder of why Gilmore holds the youth football camp, and why, as a father, he can never make enough money for his family.

This story was originally published July 12, 2016 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Football camp a welcome respite from NFL business for Stephon Gilmore."