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No legs? No problem
Inspirational high schooler in Ohio tackles football in his own unique way
By Stan Grossfeld, Globe Staff | October 19, 2005
DAYTON, Ohio -- The halftime announcement is met by squeals from the football crowd at Welcome Stadium, as if Ed Sullivan is introducing the Beatles.
''And now, ladies and gentlemen, the 2005 homecoming king, the very talented Mr. Bobby Martin."
Born without legs, Martin -- a 3-foot-1-inch, 117-pound high school football player -- quickly uses his hands to propel himself between a flag-toting honor guard lining the 50-yard line. The coronation is sweet. The new king stands tall. Martin is crowned, and his green-and-yellow No. 99 Cougars jersey is draped with a red cape that flutters in the wind, Superman-like. It was specially tailored by Sharon Murphy, his consumer science instructor at Colonel White High School. Even though she was ill, Murphy was there, caught up in Bobbymania.
Picture a young Cassius Clay from the hips up -- handsome, charismatic, bragging, funny -- and you've got Bobby. So on a recent Friday night, in a half-empty stadium several miles from his inner-city school, Bobby Martin has his dream come true.
''This day is going to go down in history," he declares. ''I always wanted to be the king. Always dreamed about it."
Martin, 17, plays on special teams and is a backup nose tackle who sees limited playing time. But when he does, he fearlessly propels himself with gloved hands, his torso inches above the turf. He's agile and has tremendous arm strength. He makes cobra-like tackles and is the last defense on kickoff returns.
Don't tell him he is handicapped.
''I stand 3 foot 1 inch but I've got a soul of a 6-foot-4 person," he says. ''I have no disability. I can do anything everyone else does." |