Free Double Reverse by Fred Bowen

Colts in Super Bowl XLIV (that’s 44 in Roman numerals). In three seasons, Brees passed for more than 5,000 yards.
    Russell Wilson isn’t even six feet tall. He’s listed at 5 feet 11 inches, but that hasn’t stopped him from being a Super Bowl–winning quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson uses his quick throwing action and football smarts to get the job done.
    Athletes in other sports have done well despite not “looking the part.” For example, Cal Ripken Jr. was a big man—6 feet 4 inches and more than 200 pounds. Most baseball people thought he was “too big” to play shortstop. Until Ripken, most short-stopswere small, quick players who could scamper across the infield snagging ground balls.
    Ripken started his major league career with the Baltimore Orioles as a third baseman. Then Ripken’s manager, Earl Weaver, decided to go against the baseball experts’ opinions and try Ripken at shortstop.
    Like Tarkenton, Ripken proved the experts wrong. He was a terrific fielding shortstop. Ripken played thirteen straight seasons at shortstop, using his quick feet and long reach to snap up grounders and line drives. One reason Ripken could move quickly in spite of his size: he had been a top high school soccer player when he was growing up in Maryland.
    While Ripken was considered too big to play shortstop, Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues was thought to be too short to play basketball. Many professional basketball players are 6 feet 7 inches or even taller. Bogues was 5 feet 3 inches—more than a foot shorter than most of the other players. Bogues,however, became an expert dribbler and passer. Because he was so short, taller players found it almost impossible to get the ball away from him. He was also very good at stealing the ball from his opponents.
    Bogues played for more than thirteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During that time, Bogues had almost five times as many assists (passing to a teammate who scores the basket) as turnovers (giving the ball to your opponent).
    Just as some people think that only players of a certain size should play certain games, others believe that only males should play football. But according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, more than 1,800 girls in the United States played football for their high schools in 2012. The number has been growing for years.
    Many, like Savannah, are kickers. And yes, it is true that one girl, Brianna Amat, kicked the game-winning field goal on thesame night she was crowned Homecoming Queen at Pinckney High School in Michigan. They called Brianna the “Kicking Queen.”
    But girls are playing many different positions for their high school football teams. For example, in 2012 Erin DiMeglio became the first female to play quarterback in the history of Florida high school athletics.
    You see, it’s just like Coach Vittone said. In sports, it doesn’t matter if you
look
the part. What matters is being able to
play
the part. So don’t worry that you’re too big or too small, or whether you’re a girl or a boy. If you can help the team, you’ll get your chance to play the part.

Special Thanks
    The author wishes to thank
    Steve Willertz,
    a longtime youth football coach
    from Severn, Maryland,
    for his help with
    the diagrams and
    football terminology.

About the Author

    FRED BOWEN was a Little Leaguer who loved to read. Now he is the author of many action-packed books of sports fiction. He has also written a weekly sports column for kids in the
Washington Post
since 2000.
    For thirteen years, Fred coached kids’ baseball and basketball teams. Some of his stories spring directly from his coaching experience and his sports-happy childhood in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
    Fred holds a degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from George Washington University. He was a lawyer for many years before retiring to become a full-time children’s author. Bowen has been a guest