Demias Jimerson, an 11-year-old football prodigy from Malvern, Ark., was wearing the right jersey in an interview with the local news. The No. 28 Minnesota Vikings jersey seemed to fit perfectly on Jimerson’s small shoulders, but it’s unlikely even Adrian Peterson ever faced a restriction like Jimerson does.
Jimerson, who has scored as many as seven touchdowns in one game, is now barred from crossing the goal line if he has already scored three TDs and his team holds at least a 14-point lead.
It’s a lot for a preteen star to digest, but Jimerson doesn’t appear to mind.
“I’m OK with it,” Jimerson said.
The rule was instituted to keep the other 21 players on the field involved, Wilson Intermediate Football League commissioner Terri Bryant tells Fox 16’s Josh Rosenthal. It’s not an unprecedented move. The rule actually has a name: “The Madre Hill Rule,” after the Arkansas Razorbacks great and fellow Malvern native.
Here’s the part where the begrudged player and his family kick up a fuss, lead a protest on Jimerson’s school (where the commissioner is also Jimerson’s principal) and engage in all sorts of nonsense to convince Jimerson he’s the most important 11-year-old on the planet. Right?
Refreshingly, not in this case. When listing his priorities, Jimerson doesn’t even mention football.
“God always comes first, before anything,” Jimerson told Fox 16 news. “Grades second.”
Check out Jimerson’s maturity toward the unusual rule in the video below, thanks to Yahoo Sports.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Remember this name. He could be suiting up for the Razorbacks in seven years, when there will be no rule against him scoring as many TDs as he wants.
Screengrab via YouTube/joshpnw2
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s not like, ‘Oh, wow, it’s the postseason and now we have to start playing better.’ We do have a lot of guys who have a knack for it, though.”
— Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino on the team’s ability to click into postseason mode after a late-season slide
TWEET OF THE DAY
We’ll forward your suggestion to management.
