Kiffin's at it again

In the world of high school athletics, it's always nice to receive that call or letter stated a NCAA school is interested in your talents. For top athletes, it's what they wish for. They might act nonchalant about the whole deal, but when they get that call you can be sure their heart skips a little.

But when I woke up and flipped on ESPN Friday and heard that USC's Lane Kiffin had offered a potential five-star recruit my heart skipped a beat. I'm a Trojans fan, but when they announced the name, for the life of me I couldn't put a face to the name. Then as they continued it became apparent why Mr., and I use that term loosely, David Sills is a special case.

Sills happens to be a 13-year-old, seventh-grade quarterback from Delaware. You heard me right folks, 13 years old. This kid should be worrying about which razor he should buy for his first shave not what impact he'll be having on one of the premiere football programs in the NCAA.

I watched some highlights of Sill on Youtube and I will say the kid has talent. He already stands at 6-feet and is able to put the ball on a dime, but when is a coach going to go too far?

Kiffin is known as a rule bender, but in this case he's well within his rights. An kid's is not deemed a prospective student athlete until he enters the ninth grade. So until then, they're fair game and can receive as many calls as a coach feels necessary.

As a parent, I completely understand wanting what's best for your child, but shouldn't we draw the line somewhere? Tell 'em it's fine and dandy you want little Timmy to come play ball for you, but wait until he's at least in high school.

Why wait you might ask and the answer is simple -- a lot of things can happen between now and then. Will the thought of already being commited to a university affect his academic career. Will USC still be offering him a college ride if he blows his knee out his junior year?

I want my favorite college program to continue to be successful, but I don't want to rob young athletes of a time when they should be having fun and not having the weight of a college title on their shoulders.