This video is compiled video footage of Carl Joseph, one of ten children in a one-parent home who had the additional setback of being born with only one leg. He played varsity football in the ’70s and was a standout in track, and now he’s been nominated for the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

This seems too fantastic to be true — or at least too amazing to have not gotten wider press before this — but I actually emailed the Florida HS Athletic Association, and it seems the nomination, at least, is real. And to that I say, holy crap. I couldn’t play high school football, and I had two legs [Note: I still do]. Mommy always said I was too delicate. And she was right :(

[Kissing Suzy Kolber]

Welp, this was bound to happen.  Brett Favre has a high school-age nephew, Dylan, who plays quarterback and just set the Mississippi state record for most touchdowns in a season, with 43.  Fortunately, the media is much too savvy to compare a high school junior to the NFL’s longest tenured quarterback.  Um, right?  Some selections from Rivals.com:

• “You know,” the easy-going Favre said in his Southern drawl, “I haven’t really thought about it that much.”
• “He’s a pretty special athlete,” St. Stanislaus coach Forrest Williams said… “Somebody is going to get a heck of a quarterback.”
• “He’s athletic, and he’s a competitor,” Rivals.com Southeast Recruiting Analyst Barton Simmons said. “You can see a lot of his uncle in him in the way he improvises and the confidence he has in his arm.”
• Favre is no prima donna quarterback.
• “He’s very game-savvy. (Dylan and Brett) are similar-type players, in terms of toughness and personality.”
• “Be humble and work hard … my dad and uncle are always on me about that,” Favre said.

Guhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I pray to an angry God: please, don’t subject us to another two decades of Favre stories.  Or if You do, at least make the kid keep his helmet on during press conferences.  Yikes.

(thanks to 289 and Raskolnikov)

Meet Tony Casamento, the new starting quarterback for Ellenville (NY) High.  He took over the starter’s job for the sectional semifinal just over a week ago, and on Saturday he led his team to the sectional championship.  Also, as you may have noticed, he’s fat.

“People laughed at me when I said he’s a quarterback in a lineman’s body,” said Ellenville coach Tony Borriello. “But he really is. It’s unfortunate that God gives us certain things, but you gotta deal with it.”

Casamento was given a slow metabolism, doctors told him, so he was always a big kid.

“I’d go on diets for one week and the next week put it all back on,” he said at practice Thursday, wearing the quarterback’s red jersey mandating defenders not touch him. “I love food. That’s what it’s all about for me.”

I guess it would be mean to make fun of a heartwarming story about an overweight kid who overcomes the cliques and cruelty of high school to find success and acceptance… but that’s never really stopped me before.  What a disgusting food blister.  Look at his socks.  He turned the Under Armour logo into a horizontal line.  Quarterbacks aren’t supposed to have cankles.  Or diabetes.

[Deuce of Davenport / Deadspin]

The name “Philip Lutzenkirchen” sounds more like a Nazi stormtrooper than a tight end, but I’ll give him a pass this time because this is one of the most amazing high school football plays I’ve ever seen.

If you need details, this happened in a game between Lassiter and Centennial in Georgia, and afterwards Lutz slept with the entire cheerleading squad. Probably.

[Hot Clicks]

I first saw this video on Digg last weekend, and I tried to hold off posting it because the closer we get to the election, the more reluctant I am to even say the word “politics” on this blog.

But whatever, it’s Friday, I want to finish up my day, and it’s Sarah Palin — she of the traitorous NFL fandom — getting clobbered by Terry Tate. Good enough for me. Maybe he knocked that annoyin’, gratin’, pissin’-me-off accent out of her.

Gaelic football and Australian Rules are similar sports, both falling within the realm between rugby and American football.  But they’re still different enough that a hybrid, International Rules, was developed to let the Australians and Irish compete against each other.

The International Rules Series kicks off tomorrow for the first time since 2006 (it’s supposed to be an annual event), and given that drinking and fighting are the only things the Irish and Australians are good at, you can guess how this series goes.  The reason it wasn’t played last year: a series of on-field brawls and assorted violence put the event’s future in doubt. Not sure why that’s seen as bad. I’d pay good money to watch Irish and Australians fight. “Fight! Fight, you curs! Winner gets a mug of ale!”

(You can watch the goodness in the video above, but I strongly recommend muting your computer, as it’s unfortunately set to Limp Bizkit or some similar insult to your ears and intelligence.)

[Dave's Football Blog]