I thought the idea in football was to have big players on a team. I guess not.
At 12 years old Elijah Earnheart stands over 6 feet tall and weights almost 300 pounds.
For the past three weeks he’s been practicing with the Mesquite Vikings, a Mesquite Pee Wee Football Association team. But on Sunday at a pre-season weigh-in he was told he’s too big and can’t suit up.
The president of the league said the rule is any seventh grader over 135 pounds is barred and must play in the school league.
Elijah’s mother, Cindy Earnheart, also plans to protest with painted signs and shirts that say, “Let Elijah Play.”
“For him to come home and just cry and go to his room and say, ‘I give up.’ I’m not going to let him give up. This is his dream. This is what he wants to do. And I’m going to make it happen,” she said.
I can imagine somewhere in the near future, we will be watching a pro football and this story will come back to remind us of a young man being determined to succeed at football.
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Don’t supersize me: 12-year-old boy too big to play football, says league | Off the Bench
August 14, 2012 at 2:21 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
[...] of Dallas. That’s where 12-year-old Elijah Earnheart was told during a league weigh-in that he was too big to play for the Mesquite Vikings, a Pee Wee Football Association league for youngsters ages 4 to [...]