One of the most amazing football stories of 2012 has just got to be about 9 year old Sam Gordon who has taken the media by storm since her father posted a short film clip of Sam in action on YouTube. The clip became an immediate Internet sensation and Sam became the most talked about nine year old in America if not the world. Yes, I said her father. Sam is a girl….and a cute one at that.
She has been running around, through and sometimes over, defenders in the all boy football league, the Salt Lake City Gremlins.
The film shows a pint sized football player exhibiting exceptional skills as a running back, including reading defenses and then out running them. In fact, Sam made the team when she showed up at her brother Max’s football practice, talked herself in to a race and managed to out run everyone else on the field. Not one of the boys could even keep up….. and the rest is history. Her stats for the season are truly remarkable. Sam had 1,911 yards rushing averaging 8.2 yards per carry.
She scored 35 rushing touchdowns! Did I mention that she plays defense as well? Sam had 65 tackles last year. The film clips show her fearlessly tackling a guy about twice her size and bringing him down.
Sam hits hard and does not back down.
Since her initial burst of fame, Sam has become the darling of the NFL making visits to practice with the San Francisco 49ers and actually tossing around the old pig skin for awhile with real NFL stars. She seems to take it all in stride.
Her real claim to fame however, came when Sam became to only female football player to ever make it onto a Wheaties Cereal Box. As a result of the Wheaties deal, Sam made an appearance on Good Morning America where she charmed the nation. She has also flown to Chicago to appear on a daytime talk show and later appeared on the NFL Network where she tackled former NFL great Marshall Faulk on the set.
She has attended NFL games with Roger Goodell and Steve Young and has even met her personal hero, Women’s Pro Soccer star Abby Wambach. After a couple more years of playing football, Sam plans to make the switch over to Soccer where no doubt she will shine as well.
