It isn’t every day that someone gets to live out their childhood dream. That’s the case, though, for Chula Vista native, Tony Jefferson. After a persistent career in the NFL, he had the opportunity to suit up as a Los Angeles Charger in 2024, the same team he grew up idolizing.
Jefferson graduated from Eastlake High School in 2010. Today, he wears a Bolts helmet and hosts a free youth football camp right back in the neighborhood where his football career started. “San Diego has always been good to me,” he says. That’s why he regularly gives back to the community that helped him grow.
Jefferson's Path to the NFL
Tony spent his childhood living in Spring Valley, but moved to East Chula Vista for high school. Growing up, he would watch the San Diego Charger games, unaware that he was rooting for a team he would eventually be a part of.
He says that moving to Chula Vista for high school set him on the path to where he is today. “It really helped me focus on football. There were less distractions there. Back then, Eastlake was still a newer neighborhood. It was still growing and I feel like I was part of the growth from the earlier days.”
As a sophomore, he started getting noticed nationally–earning All-State and impressing his coaches. He had tried out other sports, but it was apparent to both him and his coaches that football was where he was going to thrive, so he stuck with it. By the time he graduated, he was being recruited by more colleges than he could have ever imagined.
Despite the attention, it was difficult for Jefferson to make a decision about college. “When you’re 16 and 17, these decisions are hard because you don’t really know where you want to go. I committed three times to three different schools, I just couldn’t make up my mind because I had so many options.”
Inundated with offers from national scouts, Jefferson landed at the University of Oklahoma. The culture shock was intense. “I had never been to the midwest, I was shocked at how different everything was.”
The change was so radical that during the early days, he considered transferring schools. He stayed committed, though, earning Freshman All-American and playing two more years on the team. Jefferson left school as a junior, a choice he says he may have done differently, looking back on it now. After leaving school, he went undrafted in his first go around, but he didn’t let that stop him. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2013, and his NFL journey officially began.
Fast forward to 2024, when Jefferson signed as a Los Angeles Charger–formerly the San Diego Chargers. For him, it’s incredibly special to put on a Bolts helmet each day. When he recalls the first ever NFL game he attended as a fan, he shares that he sat up in the nosebleed seats of the San Diego Chargers with his high school girlfriend, now wife. “What if I play for the Chargers someday?” he mused. Today, he is living his full circle fairy tale come true.
Jefferson Returns to Eastlake
This past June, Jefferson hosted his annual Youth Football Camp at his alma mater, Eastlake High School. He ran his first camp in 2017 with a few of his teammates, but now he partners with Hard Count Athletics to help the event run smoothly for such a large group of kids. On June 22nd, 2025, the sun shone bright as more than 300 kids passed, tackled, and scored touchdowns alongside Jefferson and a handful of other NFL players and college athletes–a childhood dream come true.
The camp is a one day workshop designed to get kids interested in the sport and explore what it’s like to be on a football team. The students run drills, receive coaching, and have the opportunity to hear from the players and coaches about decision making, character development, and what it means to stay consistent in whatever they choose to do in their lives–not just in sports. It’s also free.
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I’m charging kids to come to camp. So I make sure that there is equal opportunity. I just want them to come out, learn, and be around some of the guys who made it. Out of 300 or 400 kids, all it takes is for us to touch just one. That’s my goal,” says Jefferson.
Prior to the camp, Jefferson also made his way down to the Chula Vista golf course to support the 2025 Golf Tournament hosted by the Eastlake Football Booster Club. He’s been a sponsor for years, but it wasn’t until he moved to LA to play with the Chargers that he was close enough to participate the actual event.
During the tournament, he connected with some of his favorite high school teachers and played alongside one of his old coaches and his old Athletic Director. “It was a good time,” he says, “I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to having many more with them.”
We asked Jefferson who inspired him most along his journey. His answer? His brother Andre. “He’s four years older than me, and I just felt like I was following everything he was doing.” Jefferson shared that when his brother started playing tackle football, he would sometimes rush home from school to put his brother's shoulder pads and helmet on, pretending to play football by himself in his bedroom. “I just wanted to be like him,” he reminisces.
Leaving a Legacy
When he thinks about the advice he’d like to leave behind for young kids who hope to follow in his footsteps, Jefferson shares: “It’s all about decision making. Whether you want to be a professional athlete or do anything else in life, always think about the decisions you’re making and whether or not you're willing to handle the consequences of those decisions.”
Finally, he weighs in on the most important question of all. As a San Diego native, now living in LA–the dispute needed to be settled. Which of the two cities has the best Mexican food?
“I was just talking about this with the guys in the locker room the other day,” answers Jefferson. “I don’t even know why there is an argument. San Diego is just the best. The Carne Asada in San Diego can’t be beat.” There you have it, folks.
What’s next for Tony Jefferson? Well, If you ask his old coach and Athletic Director, they’d love to see him return to Eastlake as a coach once he retires from the NFL. Perhaps he will. Perhaps he’ll write a book some day about his full circle journey from fan to player.
What we know for sure is that San Diego will always have a special place in his heart, and that the kids of Chula Vista can surely look forward to seeing him at next year’s Summer Football Camp.
“Offering this camp once a year is really nothing compared to how San Diego has been good to me,” says Jefferson, “I will always do as much as I can to give back to this community.”