Football natural part of Borne’s identity

Grace Borne will always eschew Barbie dolls and stuffed animals for a good football.

And underneath the blonde locks and angelic grin lies the heart of a hungry competitor that doesn’t let gender get in the way of gridiron glory.

Borne, a second-grader at St. Francis Elementary School, was the only girl to play in the NFL’s local upstart All-American Flag Football League this fall.

But she was more than a mere participant.

Scoring touchdowns became an innate part of Borne’s identity. She collected 17 of them at wide receiver for the Cowboys, a squad that recently finished 8-0 in the 6-to-11 age division.

“We were very fortunate to have Grace,” said Cowboys coach Ron Grizzaffi. “She was always there when we needed points. She carried her load, along with the load of a lot of boys on the team.”

Her secret: speed.

Borne touches the ball and becomes a blur.

“She was definitely faster than most of the boys,” said Darlene Borne, Grace’s mother. “They had a hard time catching her.”

Unfortunately, Borne’s parents had a hard time catching her games.

Her father, Jason, was diagnosed with leukemia in January. After a brief period of remission, he relapsed in September and is currently awaiting a bone-marrow transplant.

As a result, Jason and Darlene Borne have been forced into making frequent trips to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for chemotherapy treatments and, in the process, missed the majority of their daughter’s season.

“I’m really proud of her,” Darlene Borne said. “We weren’t always there, but Grace was determined to keep playing.”

Nonetheless, she remembered to save her best performances for the contests they could attend.

“I like to do good when they come,” Borne said. “I think ‘I hope we can win this game’ because I want to make them happy.”

Especially her father.

“The times he (Jason Borne) made it, she had a little spark in her eye and turned it up a notch,” Grizzaffi said.

Borne was a cheerleader during first grade, but opted to trade sideline fun for end zone runs this season.

This surprised Darlene Borne very little. Her daughter’s passion for pigskin, after all, had already manifested itself in the posters of Tom Brady and Terrell Owens that festoon her bedroom walls and the recent request to hold a “football party” for her eighth birthday.

“We were originally going to have a bowling party, but we had her friends come over wearing their favorite football jerseys and they played football in the backyard instead,” Darlene Borne said. “I handed out flags, but they wanted to play tackle. I don’t think she minded the hitting.”

That’s good news, considering the fact Borne would eventually like to play at the high school level.

Upon learning that girls have kicked for prep squads, she immediately began to practice.

“We tell her that maybe she could be a kicker for Vandebilt one day,” Darlene Borne said. “I definitely will allow her. She’s a very aggressive child. If she wants something, she usually gets it.”

On the flag football field, she wants touchdowns – lots of them.

And she’s already counting the days until next season, when she’ll get an opportunity to shred opposing defenses once again.

“It (flag football) is more fun than cheerleading,” Borne said. “I like to catch the ball and pull flags, and the boys can’t catch me.”

GRACE BORNE