This Young Boy Scored First Touchdown In Pee-Wee Football – Then Got Fined $500

This Young Boy Scored First Touchdown In Pee-Wee Football – Then Got Fined $500

8-year-old Elijah Burrell’s parents were proud of their son as he scored his first touchdown in pee-wee football — his team even had a big lead over their opponents and time was running out. In a nice play, Elijah intercepted a pass and ran to the end zone.

The crowd went wild… but in the end the celebration was short-lived once they found out about a school rule that cost the team $500 — along with the suspension of the coach for a week.

That’s right: the Lawrenceville Black Knights have been fined $500 for an infraction that is so ridiculous it might make your head hurt.

The infraction that garnered them the fine? The team accidentally violated a provision known as a “mercy rule” which was created by the Gwinnett Football League. Because of the interception and touchdown, the team created a 33 point gap – something that is now called un-sportsmanlike. Apparently, they were fined for not letting the other team score.

“We were all super excited, he was beyond excited and we were fined for it,” Brooke Burdett said. “He had no idea. This is his first year. This was his first touchdown. He is an 8-year-old boy making a pick-six.”

Other parents of the group were highly upset too, as the league is saying that the players intentionally ran the score up. In essence once a team reaches 33 points or more, they are in violation of the rule and fined $500.

“How do I explain to an eight year old kid that your coach has been suspended because your teammate unintentionally scored?” said one parent. “It is hard having an 8-year-old in flight to think of everything everybody has said, other than I need to make a touchdown.”

What was the enthusiastic 8-year-old boy supposed to do instead of run in for the touchdown? That part is unclear… but perhaps hand the ball nicely to the opposing team while apologizing for being successful would have prevented the massive fine.

The sorry fact is that Elijah’s team even tried to let the other team score, but they were unable to catch the ball. Some are asking if the opposing team knew about the fine and purposely taunted the team to keep scoring.

Parents of the football team members have come together to split the fine among them, a total of which will cost each $17 per player.

http://freepatriot.org/2014/10/25/young-boy-scored-first-touchdown-pee-wee-football-got-fined-500/