Fatal tackle may have involved overage boy, altered records

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The mother of a youth football player involved in the fatal tackle of another player may have altered a document to make him appear younger than he really was, a national Pop Warner official said.

"From what we have heard we believe that his mother may have altered his birth certificate," said Jon Butler, director of the national Pop Warner office in Langhorne, Pa.

Eleven-year-old Rodney L. Coen II, of Independence, died earlier this month, three days after he was tackled by two players during a Heart of America League game on Sept. 29.

The division in which Rodney's team plays is limited to players between ages 9 and 11, Butler said. Twelve-year-olds can play if they weigh less than 90 pounds; the weight maximum for 9-11 year-olds is 110 pounds.

Butler didn't know the player's age and weight. But he said Friday that local league officials believe one of the players involved in the tackle may have been overage, and that his mother may have altered his birth certificate by three months so her son could play in the division.

Butler said league officials do not believe the boy's age was a factor in Rodney's death.

Butler said the league requires players to submit birth certificates and supporting identification at the start of the year, and players are weighed before each game.

Rodney, who played for the Independence Patriots, was returning a kickoff against the KC Bulldogs when he was hit high and low by two defenders.

Rodney fell backward in a whiplash motion and struck the back of his helmet against the ground, witnesses said. He got up after the play, walked about two steps and then collapsed.

He was unconscious and on life support for 3 1/2 days before he died.