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Legless football player not allowed to play

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Bucktastic

Bucktastic

Troy Smith for HEISMAN
This is crazy!!!!



Mount Healthy didn't want to exclude player

By Michael Perry and Josh Pichler
Enquirer staff writers



<!-- ARTICLE SIDEBAR --><TABLE class=sidebar_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 border=0><!-- MAIN PHOTO --><TBODY><TR><TD class=photosidebar align=middle><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=100 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>[URL="http://cmsimg.enquirer.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=AB&Date=20050921&Category=SPT030101&ArtNo=509210387&Ref=AR&Profile=1068&MaxW=300&MaxH=700&border=0"]http://cmsimg.enquirer.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=AB&Date=20050921&Category=SPT030101&ArtNo=509210387&Ref=AR&Profile=1068&MaxW=300&MaxH=700&border=0[/URL]</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc colSpan=2>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=photosidebar_body colSpan=2>Colonel White's Bobby Martin



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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=photosidebar_body colSpan=2>Colonel White's Bobby Martin played in three games without incident before being removed from Friday's game with Mount Healthy.


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Mount Healthy High School's head football coach and athletic director said Tuesday they did not support an officiating crew's decision to keep Bobby Martin, a senior at Dayton's Colonel White High School who has no legs, from playing in last Friday night's game.
Martin participated in one play on the punting team in the first half before officials decided it was unsafe for him to be on the field. They cited a mandatory equipment rule from the National Federation of State High School Associations' rule book that stipulates players must wear shoes, thigh pads and knee pads, Mount Healthy coach Kurry Commins said.
Commins said he had no problem with Martin playing.
"From our standpoint, he served as an inspiration for our kids, and for us as coaches," Commins said.
Mount Healthy athletic director Tina Tuck said she made it clear to Colonel White athletic director Carolyn Woodley that Mount Healthy did not object to Martin playing in the game, which the Fighting Owls won 41-12.
"We went to their coaches ... At first they definitely were upset with us; I think they thought we had something to do with it," Tuck said. "Finally, the officials went over and cleared it up and said this was their call."
Tuck said a member of the officiating crew told her Colonel White needed a waiver from the Ohio High School Athletic Association in order for Martin to play.
"I didn't know about that, and neither did their AD," Tuck said.
She added that the Mount Healthy team knew about Martin.
"Our coach had prepared our team for him to play, just so they'd understand there was going to be someone out there who looked a little different," Tuck said. "We didn't want that kid not to play. We just think it's courageous that he's trying and we fully supported it."
Hank Zaborniak, an assistant OHSAA commissioner, said Tuesday night he had talked to two members of the officiating crew, and that they kept Martin out of the game because they were worried about his safety.
"They were concerned they would get into trouble for allowing somebody on the field who might get hurt," Zaborniak said. "They huddled on the field and elected to tell the coach Bobby can't play, that they need a waiver."
He said there would be no disciplinary action taken against the officiating crew.
"(The decision) was not intended to be harmful; it was done for the opposite reason," Zaborniak said. "To be honest with you, they didn't know what to do."
Dennis Daly, the officiating crew chief who lives in Cincinnati, would not comment on Tuesday and referred questions to Zaborniak.
Martin already had played in three games this season before last Friday's.
"It's the first time in my life I ever felt like that," he told the Dayton Daily News. "Everybody was looking at me, talking about what I didn't have. I felt like a clown. I hated it. I just wanted to know why it was different this game than all the rest."
Zaborniak e-mailed a letter on Monday morning to Colonel White that confirms Martin is eligible to play. An official himself for 31 years, Zaborniak said he had never encountered a situation like this one.
"We've had players who are blind, players who are deaf, players who play without an arm, players who play wearing a prosthesis ... in all those cases, the school needs to get ahold of (the OHSAA).
"But there's nothing in the rulebook that accounts for this."

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050921/SPT030101/509210387/1068/SPT
 
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Bucktastic said:
They cited a mandatory equipment rule from the National Federation of State High School Associations' rule book that stipulates "players must wear shoes, thigh pads and knee pads," Mount Healthy coach Kurry Commins said.
Click to expand...

I have an idea, tape thigh pads, knee pads and shoes to the back of his uniform and let him get out there!
 
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Tuck said a member of the officiating crew told her Colonel White needed a waiver from the Ohio High School Athletic Association in order for Martin to play.
"I didn't know about that, and neither did their AD," Tuck said.
Click to expand...
what kind of a dumbass AD would not look into this to make sure things were OK?
 
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Re: "We've had players who are blind, players who are deaf, players who play without an arm, players who play wearing a prosthesis ... in all those cases, the school needs to get ahold of (the OHSAA).
"But there's nothing in the rulebook that accounts for this."

If it isn't in the rules how can they require a wavier?

Re: "Martin already had played in three games this season before last Friday's."

Why didn't he need the wavier in any of the first three games?
 
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Is it bad that I want to see a video of that dude playing? We had a kid at my HS that was in a wheelchair and wrestled for a while. He couldn't move much, but was good if he got his opponent on the ground. He eventually had to quit because wrestling was to dangerous for his legs. I bet that dude could wrestle pretty good to.
 
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I saw a story a few years ago about a kid in the same situation that played in Wisconsin... there were no problems with him playing.... he played nose guard and was pretty good at it.
 
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CNN Headline News just had a story on him. Apparently the OHSAA admitted that a mistake was made and he should have been allowed to play. They showed some footage on him. He can move pretty good. His push-ups were really impressive, he lifts his entire body (i.e only part touching the ground was his hands).
 
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ScriptOhio said:
CNN Headline News just had a story on him. Apparently the OHSAA admitted that a mistake was made and he should have been allowed to play. They showed some footage on him. He can move pretty good. His push-ups were really impressive, he lifts his entire body (i.e only part touching the ground was his hands).
Click to expand...
not to be disrespectful or anything......but i do pushups with the only part of my body touching the ground being my hands and feet. it's kind of a given that somebody without legs does pushups with only his hands touchg the ground.
 
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there was a big story about him just last week in the Dayton paper. Very inspirational.

He plays nose tackle in a reserve role and covers punts on special teams. The coaches apparently have to watch him because his desire to play is so great that he will substitute himself into the game if they aren't watching. It's great that he is a real contributor and makes plays, he's not just there for "show".

Then this.

It almost seemed to me that the officials were looking for something in the rule book that they could use to disqualify him. the reason they came up with - as pointed out so well by Thump's post - is total BS because none of those things even apply to this situation.

There was also a letter to the editor in today's DDN which really pissed me off - the writer stated that they were glad somebody had the guts to stand fast and not let the kid play, because he could really get hurt.
:smash:
I hope that person is never in a position to make any decisions which impact my or my family's lives, because they are utterly clueless.
 
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This was on the local sports radio stations all day yesterday. IMO, it's his school's fault for notifying the officials before the game. They were completely unaware of his situation. In the letigous society we live in, I'd be a little worried for myself as well if I were an official.
 
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Thump said:
I have an idea, tape thigh pads, knee pads and shoes to the back of his uniform and let him get out there!
Click to expand...

Actually Thump,something very much like this happened, it centered on the shoes.

The Col. White coaches were told about the equipment rule. The poor kid was so eager to play in the 2nd half that he demanded they tie shoes at his hips so he was fully kitted.

Shoes attached, he starts to enter the field of play. It is then that some jabone fans start their edition of the laughter parade. This upset the assistant coach (who was more vocal in his tirade against the officials than the Col White head coach) - who accused the officials of "making his man look like a clown." Needless to say this poor kid was also visibly upset, literally in tears at the jeers he now now faced.

For the first time ever he said he felt different, handicapped - a feeling he'd never experienced before, and not just on a football field.

There is so much which is wrong about this story, but this last part is far and away the worst of it all.
 
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sandgk said:
Actually Thump,something very much like this happened, it centered on the shoes.

The Col. White coaches were told about the equipment rule. The poor kid was so eager to play in the 2nd half that he demanded they tie shoes at his hips so he was fully kitted.

Shoes attached, he starts to enter the field of play. It is then that some jabone fans start their edition of the laughter parade. This upset the assistant coach (who was more vocal in his tirade against the officials than the Col White head coach) - who accused the officials of "making his man look like a clown." Needless to say this poor kid was also visibly upset, literally in tears at the jeers he now now faced.

For the first time ever he said he felt different, handicapped - a feeling he'd never experienced before, and not just on a football field.

There is so much which is wrong about this story, but this last part is far and away the worst of it all.
Click to expand...

That's terrible man.

These kind of stories make me so freaking mad!!:pissed:

We have disabled students at my school and I always like buddying up with them b/c frankly, they're the most fun to be around.

They're always happy and don't take life for granted.

I really feel for this kid. What a shame. What a shame.
 
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Put the lightening bolt on my head, I'm ready to get flamed.

My empathy is with the refs. Suppose they decide to let the kid play and any one of the millions of possibilities that can pop up on a single play happens... to Martin, to a kid on the other team, tell the lawyers, starting with Cincinnati's own number 1 ambulance chaser, Stan Chesley, to take a ticket and please get in line.

We had a case a few years back at Moeller where the docs spotted an unusual heart beat on a running back during the pre-season physical. They pulled him aside and did multiple checks and told the coaches that they would not pass the kid. It got very ugly before it was through and remains an unpleasant relationship between school and the kid's family. My thought at the time was, how would you like to be a coach and have to make a sideline decision to put the kid into a game? I wouldn't want the weight of that decision on my shoulders.
 
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