Demopolis High School’s Tom Causey will head to the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio next week. He will be one of 51 high school football coaches from around the nation who will participate in the eighth annual NFL-USA Football Youth Football Summit from July 28-31.

“It’s a tremendous honor to represent our state,” Causey said of the opportunity to serve as Alabama’s delegate at the summit. “I just hope I do a good job of representing our state and our voice.”

According to a press release sent out Wednesday, the 51 representatives from each state and Washington D.C. will be joined at educational seminars by 20 former NFL players now coaching at the youth and high school levels.

The summit will also feature guest speakers such as former NFL players Harry Colon and long-time coach great Dick Vermeil.

“It’s very, very humbling what I’m doing to be able to represent our state, what I believe is the greatest state for football in the country. It hasn’t sunk in yet what I’m doing. It’s very humbling to be selected to talk about the pros and cons of high school football in the country right now.”

Causey will fly out Tuesday for the summit, which is funded by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. The DHS coach will also be afforded the opportunity to visit the Hall of Fame before returning home Friday.

“I’ve always said I was going to take a trip up there someday,” Causey said. “I know about the guys in the history of the league. To be able to walk in those halls where the stories of those guys are is unbelievable.”

While he dreads pulling away from his team for a few days, Causey said he is only able to make such a trip because of the coaching staff that is in place at Dempolis High School.

“It’s got me stressed a little bit because it’s the last week of summer before practice starts,” Causey said. “It’s something that I couldn’t do if we didn’t have such good coaches. I wouldn’t be able to do it. But the honor of it dang sure outweighs the stress.”