A former Bishop Chatard football star returned to his alma mater Saturday to give back to the community.

Ryan Baker, 25, a defensive end with the NFL's Miami Dolphins, hosted the inaugural Ryan Baker Football Camp at the Northside Catholic school. It marked the first event for the Ryan Baker Foundation.

"When I made the Dolphins team, I thought it would be really neat to be able to come back and do a camp," Baker said. "When I was in grade school (at St. Pius X), I'd play at Chatard."

Baker said many of his great childhood memories came from that field.

Baker recruited his friends and teammates to be camp counselors. Teams they're associated with include Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame universities as well as the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts.

"I want to come back to Chatard to give back to these kids," Baker said. "I want to show them an athlete can be a good role model who does well in school and works hard. Hopefully, these kids will be in awe."

The free camp taught students in Grades 5-8 football fundamentals useful across the game, regardless of position.

"I came out of high school an All-American tight end, and now I'm a defensive end," Baker said. "I am going to have quarterbacks learning how to block, and linemen doing quarterback drills."

Nearly 300 kids registered for the camp and rotated among 14 stations around the Chatard football field doing various drills, Baker said.

In addition to the football side of the camp, Baker reached out to the community to get food, drinks, shirts and all the necessary things for a camp. He even arranged transportation for inner-city kids who didn't have a way to get to the camp.

"I didn't have one person tell me no," said Baker, who said Jugs Catering provided food for the campers and counselors.

Baker was undrafted in 2009, but the Dolphins signed him to their practice squad after cutting him from the roster. He moved up to the active roster last November and played his first NFL game Nov. 29 against the Buffalo Bills, where Baker shared a sack of the quarterback with veteran linebacker Jason Taylor in only his second play of the game.

"It's a dream come true," he said. "I didn't dream about it until I started it. To get up to that level, the NFL, are the elite. You have to compete every single day. My first game was one of the best experiences of my life."

Baker played football and basketball at Chatard, where he graduated in 2004. He played on the Class 3A football state championship teams in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and the 3A basketball state championship team in 2003.

He also was named The Indianapolis Star 2004 Athlete of the Year.