Collier's PPI Dreamchasers gives international athletes a chance to shine

How far would you chase a dream?

Three kids who attended a Texas A&M football camp on Tuesday were willing to cross international boundaries… even the Atlantic Ocean.

Swedish tight end Gustaf Henriks Ras‍ and Nigerian defensive players George Okorie‍ and Jadiel Wahab‍ just needed a guide to give direction.

They found that in Brandon Collier, a 38-year-old coach, founder and director of PPI Dreamchasers. This Germany-based program provides a bridge between international athletes and Division I football teams in the United States.

The players have talent. They have determination. They have incredible patience. They just need a chance.

Collier is intent on helping them get one.

"We train kids. We present kids to colleges," Collier said this week. "I would like to call myself a mentor or a talent scout. Really, I don't know what to call myself."

Some of the many players he has coached at football camps in Europe and helped get scholarships in America might call him a dream maker.

He's helped more than a few dreams come true.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Collier played on the defensive line at the University of Massachusetts 15 years ago.

He got a free-agent deal with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. Later, he played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. He finished his playing career in the German Football League for a team in Frankfurt.

In Germany, he started holding camps for the growing numbers of European kids playing American football. That led to him bringing prospects to the United States to meet college coaches.

"I had kids asking me, ‘Can you help me to America?’" Collier said. "We've evolved to having kids from Africa, Australia and all through Europe."

Collier said in the approximately 10 years he has been directing PPI more than 120 kids in the program have received scholarships from Division I football programs.

Among those players is Texas A&M tight end Theo Melin Öhrström.

Öhrström isn't Collier's only connection to A&M. Collier's defensive line coach at UMass was Sean Spencer, who is now A&M's defensive line coach.

So, when Spencer learned Collier was in the country with three prospects, an invitation was extended to visit A&M.

That meant adding to an already busy schedule. Collier, Henriks Ras, Okorie and Wahab have been in the U.S. since May 28 on a relentless tour of university camps.

Their trip started in Washington, D.C., then they drove to Tuscaloosa, and then to Athens, GA. They've been to camps at Memphis, Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia and Maryland.

Earlier this week, they were in Charlotte when Collier got the call from Spencer. They drove all night to Atlanta to catch a morning flight to Houston. They arrived in College Station at 11 a.m. — just in time for a camp that started at 11:30.

The travel is tough, but worth it to chase a dream.

“I love it,” Henriks Ras said. "This tour is not for the weak. Sometimes, we go in a van of 12 people for 10-plus hours and jump into a camp with no warm-up. Most of the time, we don't know where we are going, or the plan changes halfway there. But we do not deal in excuses.

"I love being with the PPI, and I was dead tired and stiff coming to Texas A&M and still performed at a high level because Brandon believed in me anyway."

Chris Swann, TexAgs

Swedish tight end Theo Melin Öhrström has played in 14 games in two seasons with the Maroon & White. 

Henriks Ras, who views Öhrström as a role model of sorts, performed at such a high level in the camp on Tuesday that he received a scholarship offer.

Okorie, a defensive end who lives in Canada, and Wahad, an edge rusher who lives in London, piqued the interest of A&M coaches.

And A&M piqued their interest, especially Okorie's.

"I think the biggest thing out of this tour is I get to see these colleges and the history," Okorie said. "Like just at A&M, the D-linemen Myles Garrett came from there, and that's somebody I study, too. Just walking the halls knowing he walked those halls too is a great feeling coming from a kid from Nigeria.

"I didn't even know what D-I was a few years ago. This whole thing is just a big switch to me. Talking to coaches, and now they know my name. Now me and JJ have every coach you can think about following us on Twitter."

They've all been offered scholarships at various programs.

That's business as usual for Collier. But the trip to A&M was special because of his relationships with Spencer and Öhrström.

"Just coming to A&M and seeing Theo thriving …," he said. "The strength coach (Tommy Moffitt) comes up to me and says he's one of the hardest working players on the team. To have coach (Mike) Elko speak highly of Theo's ability means a lot."

It sounded like they would've liked to have remained in College Station for a while. The schedule wouldn't allow it, though.

They left on Wednesday. They had to get to a camp at Oklahoma.