A Parent's Dilemma: How to Handle a College Football Scholarship for a Seventh-Grader

Is this any different than figure skaters or gymnists. they start evan younger and train hours a day to get the gold. This young man will have a goal and strive to get there. Better than many kids who have no idea what they want and just plod along, or get into trouble. And he has parental support to help him get there.

LS ,i agree with your comment .i hope he is involved in other sport activities,to help round out his abilties,as well as doing well ln school,for as you know grades keep you on or off the field .you have to have some intelligence to be a quarterback and going to a christian school i'm sure they promote academics first sports second.i say good luck to david and his family in any endeavor he chooses

MDDARCH: I read it and thought it was great.We can't help it if you have the attention span of a three year old. Maybe next time LS will include pictures for you. Well said LS!

Things change all the time. This kid may not even be alive in 2015 or may be in prison. He could be doing drugs or be a gang banger. He could get cancer, run over by a car, break both of his legs and never walk again. All of these things are possible, but hopefully none of those tragic things will happen. He is only 13. It's a long way off. Nothing in life is certain but death. Everybody who blogs on here that gets in such an uproar about this nonsense needs to get a life in the here and now. They are his parents and whatever decision they make for him before the age of 18 will be done with his best interests in mind. Everybody else's opinions don't matter.

LS You are right on. I bet this Dad spends a lot of time with his son... not just in Football but academically because his son must first get a diploma first. That alone is the most important thing...quality time together one on one...Father and Son. All the nutty shrinks that disagree with us need only look around... the jails are filled 99% with men who spent little or no time with their Dads.

A 13-year-old cannot enter into a legally binding contract by himself. His parents cannot enter into a contract that will force him to go to USC when he is no longer a minor. This article is misleading and a waste of space.

LS:

You have some great points. I was one of those children tagged to take over the family business. By 15, I was pulling down a 3.8 in school, working 40 hours and being groomed to take over "someday". I never went to a football game, a high school dance, prom, dating- nothing. I had to work. Forget college, my parents encouraged me to quit high school my junior year to work full-time, 70+ hours a week. Because "this will all be yours someday". Needless to say, someday never came. I'm 45 working as a secretary, divorced with 3 kids, scraping by everyday of my life. I will NEVER let my children quit school and as we speak, I'm managing somehow to support my oldest daughter at Ohio University this year. Did I learn something? Yes, I'm an excellent manager, very well disciplined. But, I also learned that a child's life should be lived as a child. This young man may have given a verbal commitment to play for USC and there may be an inherent amount of stress with that, but at least he won't have to stress if he'll even get the chance to go to school, like my children do. May God bless him and his talents.

Bobby Knight did this back in the 80's when he signed Damon Bailey to play Basketball for I.U. IN the 7th grade. So Lane is not the 1st to do this.

Loved your post and couldn't agree more. All kids are wired differently, this is what makes us all special and unique. As parents, you have to know your child, love your child, and provide the opportunites to help fulfill them. I know there are some overboard, crazy pushy parents out there, but don't assume that all sports parents are like that. Some kids are just out to have fun, to enjoy the sport and the friendships - which is fine. There are some kids that are just not like that, some kids who truly take things a bit more seriously than the rest of their peers (and their families).

Peyton & Eli were good examples, David Beckham, who was also recruited at 12, and many of the Olympians are also examples of these types of kids. They're different, they have a gift, they are special, and demonstrate a strong work ethic, passion, and committment for their sport.

"Childhood" is different for everyone and sometimes you have a child who is an "old soul," who never liked "make believe," who didn't ever want to play with the GI Joe or Lego set you bought for them, who is extremely upset if a practice or game gets canceled.

The way I see it, they don't want the kid until he is 18 anyway- so what's the big deal? It isn't a child slave auction, no one would have a problem if the kid was recruited for the University at 18,.... and they aren't going to take him until then! What is the difference? The kid just doesn't have to go through the next 5 years wondering if he'll get a a scholarship. I think it is great that his college is already taken care of, regardless of how it gets done.

You make a good point, besides has anyone thought of injuries. My son played football since he was 7, he quarterbacked and was throwing the football 50 yards at 10 and had about a 95% rate of hitting the running back. Freshman year of high school, he was injured bad enough, his right shoulder, his throwing arm, that he could not play and the doctor will not release him to play football, he is now a junior in high school and had to find another sport he loves, the one he is allowed to be in is bowling. Things happen, we never know what the future holds.

I have a step-sibling who was told 'no pressure' but whose parent paid exorbitant amounts of money on training, private leagues, traveling teams, moved states for the last year of high school to get recruited, etc to 'get college paid for'. (Nevermind that the money they spent over the years would have been plenty to put towards college). She somehow got through college (by paying others to do the academic part) with two surgeries and no idea who she was outside of being an athlete because she 'couldn't disappoint Mom' even though they had decided back as a freshman in high school that they weren't sure if they wanted to keep playing. An attempted suicide later . . . tell me that it was 'her choice' all along. Children are subject to a parent's influence and should be playing sports for fun and exercise - not college scholarships or the hope of professional money someday.

LS

You have wrapped the whole situation into a nice ball with your commentary...as a parent of 4 boys and 1 girl...who played sports, etc. during the youth and thru high school...I agree with you 100%

I wish this family well and only the future will tell what becomes of this young man.

Lane Kiffin is nothing but getting his name in print,You are dead on.Personally he is not 1/10 the man his father remains.Totally class less.