Heart

It was a beautiful day for football. Carter's 7th/8th football team played Franklin today and won 31-6.

Those of you who know me probably know that I love football. My dad coached youth football when my brother played as a kid, and continued on for 15 years after that, so I spent many Saturdays at the football field. When Parker started playing in the 5th grade (giving up soccer because "there are no cheerleaders or band at the soccer games, mom") I began my career as a "football mom". Lots of Saturdays sitting on the bleachers, rain or shine, cheering the team on. Most of the time the games were totally lopsided. We were usually on the receiving end of some big losses, but the boys soldiered on. Parker played through High School, as Quarterback, the one the big ones on the other team always wanted to kill. He ate a lot of field, but he always got back up.

Carter is the smallest player on his team. He weighs 70 lbs soaking wet. He has no body fat. He is not yet 5 feet tall. The puberty fairy has hit some of the boys on the team hard...some are almost 6 feet tall. There are kids that weigh more than a lot of adults I know. And then there's Carter. Carter knows that he can't compete with the bigger, stronger players in size, so he competes with heart. He tackles hard, hangs on, forces fumbles (today!), gets run over and gets back up again. He is unflappable. He makes the most of his limited opportunities. He has fun.
He loves to play, and it shows when he gets in the game.

I think about all the obstacles that he faces, his limited size, the CP, the way his body moves, and then I watch him tear it up. He plays from the heart, he plays with heart. He wants to win, and he works to make it happen. There are better players, more physical players, bigger players, but no one beats Carter on sprirt or attitude. His coaches agree - Carter is the heart of the team, an inspiration to all his teammates. I am the proudest football mom on the planet.