Capoeira + Soccer Help Teen Achieve Texas Football Fame

Eduardo Camara (Cedar Hill, Tex.) is drawing interest from colleges across the country, primarily from LSU, Alabama, Rice, Kansas, Miami, Oklahoma and Miami. While he doesn't have a set order for his top schools, he's taken an interest in the Hurricanes -- but for an unexpected reason.

"I'm actually from Brazil and I haven't been here that long, so I don't really have a favorite school, but I like the hot. Miami will do," said Camara.

Camara moved to the U.S. in 2002 from the city of Natal in northeast Brazil. When he arrived he didn't speak any English, but according to Camara he was able to learn most of what he needed in just a few months.

"When I set my mind to something, I do it," said Camara.

He took the same mindset when he became a football player as well. Camara was a very talented soccer player, so the Cedar Hill coaches decided to try him out as a kicker.

"I played soccer and the coaches just said, 'Go out there and kick it,'" said Camara.

Just going out there and kicking it is exactly what he did. It wasn't until this year that Camara began working with a private coach dedicated to kicking, and he still had one of the smoothest deliveries of all the kickers at Sunday's camp.

Along with soccer, that smoothness of movement comes from another, more unexpected, form of training.

"I did Capoeira for about two years. It's where my flexibility comes from," said Camara.

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art built on rhythmic movement. According to Camara, the acrobatic art's extensive array of kicks helped build the flexibility and power he has today....

View article: ESPN