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Sam Gordon just wanted to run with the older kids. The coaches in the local tackle football league figured, hey, why not? Maybe they could turn it into a drill: Who can outrun Max's little sister? They were shocked to find the answer: no one.



Sam Gordon, now 9, became one of the fastest kids this Salt Lake City area "Gremlins" league had ever seen. They put her in drills and she outran boys two years older. They allowed her into the "Sharks and Minnows" game and stared in awe at not only at her speed, but her ability to move like a tailback.

"She could cut and follow blocks like a college football player," says her coach, Chris Staib.

Sam ended up running for 25 touchdowns and 10 conversions in her first season playing tackle football. She earned the nickname "Sweet Feet" and a breathtaking viral video in which she looks so fast that you have to wonder if it's real.

"Oh it's real," says Staib. "That's her. I was there for all of that."

Sam's dad, Brent, admits his daughter had an adjustment issue at first. "She had a little bit of a struggle," he said Tuesday in a phone interview from his Idaho law office. "The team lost a couple of games. Since she was the primary ball carrier, she felt a lot of pressure to win. She felt blame for losing."

"I started her out in soccer at 4 years old and we would play out in the yard," Brent explains. "And my son's friends were pretty aggressive and rough. She could really handle a lot of the physical play. There were some games where she'd fall down and just keep going."

"Some kids, right before the contact, they stop," Sam told her father. "I don't. I just hit 'em."

A lot of people won't accept a 9-year-old girl playing tackle football, and perhaps with good reason. But it seems Sam loves it. Her dad and coach say she has no hesitation about coming back for another season. And her dad admits he's overwhelmed with pride.

What started as little Sam trying to keep up with her brother is now dozens of older boys trying to keep up with her.

~ Condensed from an article in Yahoo Sports! here. ~

Video of Sam Gordon competing is here. (Mute button lower left.)