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The X man rule
I know we're not talking about little league, but this is a rule that I can't stand (in part because I was an X when I was growing up.)
If I kid weighs more than a certain weight in his respective age group, they put a big X on his helmet. This is to let everyone know that he can't carry the ball, punt the ball (he can free-kick however), he has to be a lineman. If he's an offensive lineman, he has to be covered on the end. If he's a defensive lineman, his inside shoulder cannot be any further than the outside shoulder of the tackle.
I'm sure there are similar rules elsewhere, but I find it ridiculous that we should penalize a kid for weighing too much (which in most cases means he's just fat.) I had a couple of friends that were X's in little league, then when they got to high school level, one became a fantastic quarterback and one was an all-state linebacker (two positions they couldn't play in little league.
I know that they're main concern is not to have a monster carrying the ball, or being a major rusher. But if they're going to put limits on that, then why don't they do the same for a kid that exceptionally fast? Doesn't that give an advantage too?
Maybe it's just the fat kid in me venting, but I think they should change it.
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