That he can play football, though, might be James' miracle. Trauma he suffered at birth resulted in a left arm that is significantly shorter and thinner than his right, an arm that is effectively useless in football, and in life.

"We just felt like the Lord wanted him here for a purpose," said James' mother, Violet. "Even today, we say that there's some purpose for his life here, and maybe it's football."

When James was born on Nov. 27, 1989, Violet's doctors had planned to deliver him by Caesarean section. But because of his size _ 11 pounds, 6 ounces at birth _ Violet had complications and gave birth vaginally.

Doctors sent James to the neonatal intensive care unit. In a room full of premature and undersized infants, James easily stood out, inspiring the nurses to nickname him quickly.

With the extra care, everyone hoped the damage would heal itself. It didn't. James' mother took him to therapy until he was 3 years old. Doctors continued to hope his condition would improve. It didn't.

Instead, James spent his childhood learning how to adapt to life with one good arm. His mother recalls the time when James, then 2 years old, touched a kerosene heater with his bad hand, never feeling it burn his flesh. Learning to crawl and walk were lessons taught in bumps and bruises. Tying his shoes and going to the bathroom on his own were bigger challenges.

Her support, though, came with resistance when James decided to join the football team in seventh grade. Worried about James getting injured, Violet finally gave in to his wishes after her brother, Okey Palmore, convinced her James would be OK.

As a freshman in 2004, James had surgery to remove a radius bone that constantly popped out of place. The doctors also reset his wrist and adjusted his thumb, which had been growing toward his palm instead of away from it.

He also could have had surgery to reset his arm, with doctors breaking his arm and inserting a rod that would stay in for two to five years to hold his wrist in place. But that would end James' participation in any sport.

Now 16 and a junior at South Brunswick, James has earned a starting spot on the Cougars' offensive line. To his teammates and coaches, James is no different from any other player - and that's how he likes it.

"He's just as good as any of the rest of them," said offensive line coach Josh Rusk. "More than anything else, he wants extra coaching just because he wants to be so much better."

Coach Gordon Walters said that adjustment is what's remarkable about how James plays. Rather than block with his chest plate and two hands in front of his shoulders, James blocks with his right arm in front of his sternum.

That arm allows James, a 5-foot-9, 265-pound right tackle, to do a clean-and-jerk, lifting a bar off the floor and over his head with one arm. Last week in practice, he did wheelbarrows with the rest of the team, propelling himself with one arm while a teammate held his feet.

His left arm, which is protected by a brace for football, hasn't hindered him. And neither have any comments or jabs from the Cougars' opponents.

"We took the field in the county clash, (and on) one of the other teams, some of the players were calling him chicken wing," Walters said. "And, of course it upset our players more than it upset James. I'm sure he hears that stuff all the time. He played a great game."

"Sometimes they might try to go to the inside, but everybody else on the offensive line helps me out, and it's not that difficult," James said.

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