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Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 220 pounds, Houston Christian High School senior quarterback Calder Hodge resembles the typical player in the National Football League (NFL).
But what sets Hodge apart from his peers on the prep gridiron is that he’s a double amputee, Houston FOX affiliate KRIV reported.
Per KRIV, the 17-year-old field general was just two years old when his parents made the difficult decision to have doctors amputate his legs in response to a condition he was born with, tibial hemimelia.
“[It] basically means I didn't have the development of my tibia and fibula," Hodge said in the report.
The station reported that the student-athlete was also born with digitized thumbs for which doctors performed a procedure.
“I was born with an extra finger and not a thumb so when I was one, the doctors at the same time, went in and moved my finger into a thumb and made it a thumb on both of my hands," he recalled to KRIV.
Fast forward 16 years later, and Hodge is months removed from his final season under center for the Mustangs.
According to KRIV, he pledged with Tyler Junior College (TJC) to continue his academic and athletic careers.
“I'm headed to play football at Tyler Junior College for the next two years and then hopefully moving on to play at a four-year college after that,” he told the station.
Houston Christian head football coach A.J. Eisenman believes his protégé’s ability to rise above adversity will play a huge role in the next chapter of his young life.
"That is why he is going to continue to excel at Tyler … He is going to be an amazing coach one day,” Eisenman said, KRIV reported.
Per Hodge, he can’t wait to hit the field at the next level.
“I am so ready,” the future Apache said in the report. “Ever since I committed, I have been ready to get on campus and ready to get to work."
KRIV reported that Hodge will officially sign with TJC at a later date.
He tweeted that he can't wait to visit the campus this weekend.