Simply Put- “Too Short to Play”

By Clint Cox
10/16/08

I admit that I am "vertically challenged." And growing up I used to have folks tell me that I was "too short to play" football. That, in part, drove me to prove them wrong and I did, starting and playing as a wide receiver in all 20 football games during my junior and senior seasons.
So when I see young men who are likewise "vertically challenged" playing football these days, I have great admiration and respect for them. They have also probably been told they are "too short to play." There are two young "vertically challenged" men that are playing varsity football in our county that have especially caught my eye.
At Marianna, Laramie Dryden has stood out for several years now as an outstanding athlete in both football and baseball. Most folks ‘round here know the Dryden name and would be right in saying that he is carrying on the family tradition of being "vertically challenged." The football program list Laramie at 5’9’’ but I not sure he is quite that tall. Regardless, he is usually one of the smallest guys on the field. But I guarantee you he has one of the biggest hearts of anybody suited up for the game.
Almost every time I look up to see who is in on the tackle, there is Laramie. In football, we say he has a "nose for the ball." There is no quit in him. He plays every play just like the play before, wide open and huntin’ for the ball carrier. That has helped him be the current leader in tackles for the Bulldogs with 57. And even though a Rob Armstrong team doesn’t throw the ball much, I’ve seen Laramie’s receiving skills. He is the classic possession type receiver. If he can get his hands on the ball, take it to the bank that the ball will be caught.
Over in Sneads, Jerry Bamburg caught my eye a year or two ago. I was at a JV football practice and saw this scrappy little kid making a lot of tackles. I asked who he was and was told "That’s Bam Bam." Since that time I’ve watched him move on up to the varsity. "Bam Bam" is about 5’7" and plays with that same intensity as Dryden. Bam Bam’s Head Coach Don Dowling says of Bamburg "He is one of our defensive leaders and knows our game plan. He’ll go from on side of the field to the other to make the tackle. He just doesn’t quit." He currently has 22 tackles for the Pirates defensive squad.
So to all the folks who’ve uttered to some kid, "you’re too short to play football" Dryden and Bamburg are the latest in a long line of "vertically challenged" players, that have proven y’all wrong. So to Laramie and Bam Bam (pictured on this page) Simply Put, keep it up. Y’all make old short guys like me mighty proud.
From the front porch: Coach said luck is the residue of design.