JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Back in May, Urban Meyer -- the Jaguars head coach -- made a friend on Jacksonville’s Eastside.
His name is Royce Fedd, and he’s known for his barbecue.
On Tuesday, the Jacksonville native got a surprise during Jaguars training camp.
Back in May, @CoachUrbanMeyer made a new friend Outeast. Tuesday, the team invited Royce Fedd, a Jacksonville native, and Day 1 Jaguars fan, to training camp and surprised him with a brand-new, custom smoker. pic.twitter.com/ZZDXYR3HVq
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) August 11, 2021
“You know what Myles Jack told me back in ‘17 ... we talked and you said, ‘In 2017, crime went down in Jacksonville,’” Meyer told the team at the end of camp. “It’s been something to hold on to. Life gets better when you play better.”
The team inspired by the message knew that the Eastside of Jacksonville is a special place -- a neighborhood that the Jaguars want to invest in.
“There’s an area on the Eastside that used to be a growing area. It’s a little bit, that’s going through some difficult times, so Shad Khan has been good enough to donate a million dollars to that area of development. We went over there and saw a lot of crime, a lot of other things we are going to help,” Meyer said.
The coach continued, “The Eastside of Jacksonville over there has been through some tough times but better times are here to come. I watched my man Royce Fedd over there. He’s, like, known for great cooking and great -- I saw his grill, and you know what, we’re gonna do something better than that. So we bought him a brand new big time grill.”
Fedd -- surprised and thrilled with his new gift from the team. A brand-new custom smoker.
“I always dreamed about a grill like this,” he said. “My dad, my granddad, all of them had grills like this. For me to get something like this, you all don’t know how much I appreciate it.”