Girl Football Star Sam Gordon, 9, Wows With Spectacular Highlight Reel
It's not unusual to see proud moms and dads make YouTube videos of their kids' accomplishments for family and friends, and eventually the world, to see.
It is unusual to see a highlight reel of a peewee football player with stats so impressive - 35 touchdowns, 65 tackles and nearly 2,000 rushing yards - they would make an NFL scout do a double-take.
What's even more unusual is that this particular proud dad, Brent Gordon of the greater Salt Lake City-area, uploaded the video to show off the skills of his 9-year-old daughter, Samantha "Sam" Gordon.
"When she was about 3 or 4 years old and we would play soccer out in the yard with my older son … and they'd try to be a little bit rough with her and even intentionally try to kick the ball at her and she wouldn't be fazed and would keep getting up," Gordon said today via Skype on " Good Morning America." "I kind of had an idea that she's got an aggressive mentality back then."
That "aggressive mentality" has made Sam the standout star of the nearly all-boys Ute Conference football league in Utah she joined this year as starting quarterback after coming out on tops among the 172 kids in her district in nearly every speed and agility drill during tryouts.
The YouTube video created by her dad has made her an Internet sensation. The video has been viewed nearly 2 million times since Gordon posted it Monday.
"I wasn't really sure what kind of response people would have," he told "GMA." "I thought it was impressive and it appears that other people enjoy watching her as well."
Also impressive is that Sam herself seems unfazed by her domination of a sport she picked up this year, after watching Brigham Young University football games with her dad, and one that isn't even her first love.
"Most of the times it's just really fun to be the one scoring the touchdowns rather than the boys," she said.
Sam's real passion, she says, is soccer, and while appearing on "GMA" with her dad, she got a surprise from a fellow phenom on the field, Olympic gold medalist soccer player for Team USA, Carli Lloyd.
"'I'm pretty impressed with the football video. [It's] incredible," Lloyd told Sam by phone on the show today. "Keep working hard and keep dreaming."