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

Just one more reason why Lane Kiffin and his ilk should be run out of athletics. I understand that I'm in the minority - but just like in the movie "Meatballs" - it just doesn't matter. At the most basic level - sports are a means of expression physically, mentally, and even spiritually for some. Beyond that it's entertainment for the masses and should be treated as such. If you live and die by who wins the Super Bowl or World Series you need to get a life. It just doesn't matter that he much the day after. If these misguided (in my opinion) parents want to sell their soul to Lane Kiffin and mortgage their kid's childhood years, it is really none of our business. Sounds like the kid may have a shot at being something big someday. Good for him. But if its not him, there will be another star to take center stage. Who really cares folks? Just as long they keep playing. Right?

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One thing to remember here is that Lane Kiffin is a real low life.

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Please remember that Lane Kiffin is loyal to no one but himself...this young man is bound to get his heart & spirit broken by this liar just like the entire University of Tennessee football team did!

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Seventh and eighth graders are not considered "recruitable student athletes" in football yet so the NCAA rules don't apply (college basketball rules have declared 7th and 8th graders recruitable because of this very problem).

This commitment will speed up the NCAA's urgency to make it a violation to recruit these kids in football too.

I've been involved in offering two eighth graders, one going back to the early 2000s and the other 4 years ago. It's rare but not new, the commitment is new.

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Ironic how the media is worried about the kid's' well-being, yet, they're the ones sloshing him around in the public eye. Isn't it a parents dream that their child succeeds and becomes pro at something? Whether it's sports, playing the violin, guitar, or anything a child does, you, as a parent want that kid to be successful. The boy is 13, and 5 years goes by fast. But, in that 5 years so much can change. Stop the media frenzy and let the kid...be a kid

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Would people be criticizing the parents if they had allowed their son to accept an Academic scholarship to USC at age 13?

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Kim In China the child is taken from the parent at 3 years old, at least for gymnastics, and train their entire childhood. They consider it an honor, we consider it barbaric.

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Most of the concerns addressed in this article are retarded. People are mainly causing a fuss because they are jealous, otherwise why the hell is it their business anyway.

A scholarship IS any parents dream for their child. Regardless of just pushing sports most colleges have academic standards that you must meet to stay in competitive teams. This is a SCHOLARSHIP so that this kid can get AN EDUCATION.

He first has to finish middle school and then high school. It's not like he's being asked to quarterback for the college team itself... right now! I think that fact that people are sticking their noses in it to such a degree is ridiculous.

Besides, it's just a verbal agreement. If the child decides to go into medicine, I doubt his parents will stop him AND A COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP will STILL help him get there. Lord knows Grad school is expensive enough who wants to be paying off loans for undergrad?

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This backlash is only occuring because its football. Look at how old some of these Olympians are and how driven they are to succeed in their sports. I don't hear anything about their parents being pushy. And we know that some of those coaches are just as harsh and demanding as any college football coach. Face it, if the kid were brilliant in another sport and successful, no one would say a word.

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Please people get real...this happens all the time , the only reason this recieved any attention was that it was USC and Lane Kiffin. The latter is a snake in at any level but that is another blog. Each year dozens of kids get scholarship offers in several sports and at this age. I can think of one kid from my hometown who was offered a full ride at 13 and that was Chris Leak, who went on the graduate with honors and was the starting QB for the then National Championship Fla Gators. Another who was recruited at this age was current USC starting QB Matt Barkley! You folk who say you feel ill about the Sill's are just jealous , and if your kid had chance to recieve a full sports scholarship most of you would be doing back flips and running out to spend that college fund right now ! Please! As to the writer who said he felt as if he needed to take a shower maybe he did as most sport's writer's are full of that stinky stuff anyway. Also someone wrote that either side could withdraw at any time and that is NOT true ..the young man can rescind his verbal at any time and not so fast on the granting insitution unless for cause , such as criminal activity , grades etc...if young Mr Sills got into an accident ( God forbid) and could not play a down for USC that scholarship offer is good . So mama's and daddy's go out and get on the field and maybe your kid can be the next one to save YOU oh about 250K in college fees..the rest of you so called sports experts and therapist's it is YOU that need the most help. Play on Mr Sills ..and parents of Matt, congrats and DO NOT listen nor justify your actions. Archie Manning once said he had people calling to offer him serious dollars as a sperm donor , hmmm wonder why? LMAO!

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I used to play football in Jr high and high school in Jr high I used to throw the ball real good to make great long ball right into the arms of a WR's but went I got to high school for some reason I just couldn't make the throw like I did in Jr high I end up playing defense and some offense in H/S. So this his only 13 anything can happens from 3 or 4 year from now. He just might be albe to play football anymore I seen that alot.

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Kiffin is all about himself...this is his way of getting publicity. Do you really think he will be at USC when this child is ready to play football????? NOT!!!!

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The kid is a football prodigy and is being groomed to excell at football. He is not being robbed of his childhood,,. he's a teenager, not a toddler. He will still have to finish school and go to the prom. He will be able to start dating sometime in the future and will learn many things during his teenage years which will shape the man he is to become. As for his commitment? It is simply a verbal consent for something down the road, like, a COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP. And as for the media hoopla? Well, that's the media for you.

Leave the kid alone. Don't criticize the parents. A kid earned a college scholarship at 13, when most of our kids don't know what they want to be when they grow up until the last year of college and they have to commit to something to graduate. Don't you imagine things would have turned out differently if Peyton, Eli and Tiger were mouthy 13-year-olds with a sense of entitlement who excelled at video games and considering family chores a form of child labor?

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Why is everyone getting on the parents. It's USC and the NCAA that deserve the criticisim. The recruiting of someone of this age should not be allowed. The processs should not start until a student athlete is in the eleventh grade.

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same thing happen with my son 11 years ago he was in 8 grade they came and watch him play he was a running back. they talk the talk.we like it. but i know now i push him to hard 9 grade he quit the team. i hope this father can do it better then i did

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There is an easier solution to this matter, and one which until now, I thought in force. NO COLLEGE CAN CONTACT A HIGH SCHOOL NOR AN INDIVIDUAL AS A RECRUIT NOR POTENTIAL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT, PERIOD!

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First off, the punk, Kiffin, is taking advantage of the boy for his own publicity stunt. Offering a seventh grader a scholarship is ridiculous. Secondly, it could give the kid a false sense of himself, inflating his ego to titanic size and in the long run hurt his chances.
Thirdly, it looks like he has some pretty good receivers. Is Kiffin offering them scholarships? Kiffin is the biggest jerk in football.

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Childhood is fairly new phenomenon...just within the past 80-100 years have kids been "allowed" to have a childhood by not working in factories and on the farm (in the USA and other western coutries)yand, really, do any children have a "childhood" today? The have cable TV, hip hop music, "poptarts". vulgar language everywhere, R-rated movies on TV, absentee parents, the internet and i-Phones. Atleast these parents have insured that their son will receive a top notch education at a great school. This will help insure his future success and happiness. Everyone who criticizes these parents are just experiencing "sour grapes"! Who would not love to have their child insured a free-ride at an early age?

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soo much negativity and jealousy, I think that maybe a lot of people wish it was them !

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