Quadruple Amputee Teen Happy To Play Soccer!

Jorge Dyksen, 16, is arguably the hardest worker on his Manchester Regional High School junior varsity soccer team despite losing his legs and arms at an early age. The quadruple amputee refuses to feel sorry for himself and displays tremendous work ethic so that everyone knows his condition is not a handicap, but an obstacle he’s left far behind.
"Whenever the team is down for any reason, he pumps them back up, everyone wants to work at the same level he's working at," Jorge’s assistant coach, Daniel Sanchez, told ABC News. "Jorge is not only a great teammate but a great friend, definitely a team player — what every coach wants."
When Jorge was just 14 months old, deadly bacteria made their way through his body, restricting circulation to his finger and toes. In order to save his life, doctors in his native country, Panama, were forced to amputate below his knees and elbows.
Following his life-saving operation, Jorge’s family in Panama was left with an enormous hospital bill and more to come if he was going to receive the prosthetic legs that he needed to walk. His family’s prayers were answered in the form of Healing the Children, a New Jersey-based non-profit that provides medical funding for children in impoverished countries.
Through Healing the Children, Jorge lived with his host family, John and Faye Dyksen, for nine months and then went back to Panama during the summer. As Jorge’s condition improved, so did his bond with the Dyksen family. In Sept. 2012, he was officially adopted by John and Faye.

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"We were all pretty nervous about it," Faye told ABC News. "When we went to the airport .... all the fears just went away. It was kind of like love at first sight."
Today, Jorge has just one more obstacle to get around: scoring his first goal. Sporting new prosthetic legs with silicone padding that takes the pain out of running, he is working harder than ever to achieve his goal.
"I just feel like a normal person because everyone treats me like it. I just keep going on and doing what I want to do," Jorge told ABC News. "I always tell people, 'Never give up.' Look, I have no arms and no feet and I can do everything without them. I can still kick a soccer ball, hit a baseball, type and even text."

NFL says it'll meet with tribe about Redskins name

The NFL is prepared to meet with an Indian tribe pushing for the Washington Redskins to drop the team's nickname. Just not this week.

As league owners gathered Monday in the nation's capital for their fall meetings, the Oneida Indian Nation held a symposium across town to promote their "Change the Mascot" campaign. Oneida representative Ray Halbritter said the NFL was invited to attend.
Instead, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, a meeting has been scheduled for next month — and could happen sooner.
"We respect that people have differing views," McCarthy said. "It is important that we listen to all perspectives."
He said the Redskins name is not on the agenda for the owners' meetings. Redskins owner Dan Snyder has vowed to keep the name, and an AP-GfK poll conducted in April found that nearly 4 in 5 Americans don't think the team should change its name.
It's a topic generating discussion lately, though. President Barack Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press last week that he would "think about changing" the team's name if he were the owner.
Halbritter called that statement "nothing less than historic" and said the team's nickname is "a divisive epithet ... and an outdated sign of division and hate."
Addressing the NFL, Halbritter said: "It is hypocritical to say you're America's pastime but not represent the ideals of America."
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said the league and team are "promoting a racial slur" and "this issue is not going away.

For years, a group of American Indians has tried to block the team from having federal trademark protection, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia's envoy to Congress, predicted Monday that effort eventually will succeed.
"This name is going to go into the dustbin of history," she said.
Lanny Davis, a lawyer who said he's been advising Snyder on the name issue for "at least several months," said in a telephone interview after the symposium: "The Washington Redskins support people's feelings, but the overwhelming data is that Native Americans are not offended and only a small minority are."
Davis also said the campaign is "showing selective attention" by focusing on the Redskins and not teams such as the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, or Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves.
Earlier, Halbritter was asked about those other nicknames.
"The name of Washington's team is a dictionary-defined, offensive racial epithet. Those other names aren't," Halbritter said. "But there is a broader discussion to be had about using mascots generally."

Players for the Redskins have remained mostly silent on the topic, including star quarterback Robert Griffin III, who recently called the debate "something way above my understanding."
Some players approached in the locker room Monday avoided addressing the subject altogether.
"It's really tough. And I mean this sincerely: I get both sides of the argument," guard Chris Chester said. "I see how it can offend some people, but I feel like the context that this organization has, there's no negative connotation. You wouldn't name your team something you didn't have respect for. At least I wouldn't. I mean, I understand, too, that it offends some people, so I sympathize with both sides."
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AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Ashburn, Va., contributed to this report.

NFL reveals flashy new Pro Bowl uniforms

The NFL’s Pro Bowl format won’t be the only thing getting an overhaul this year. The league revealed the new Nike uniform designs that each team will be wearing in their annual all-star game, which takes place January 26 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

Replacing it will be a Pro Bowl draft with the two leading vote-getters as team captains. Each captain (with help from alumni captains Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders and two NFL.com fantasy football champions) will pick from a pool determined by votes of players, coaches and fans.
In an August interview, Rice expressed doubts that the changes would make a difference in the game’s survival.
“You’ve got prima donnas, egocentrics, who act like it’s not an honor,” Rice told USA TODAY Sports. “Plus, they’re thinking, ‘Why should I go and jeopardize what I’m doing?’ But it should be for the fans.
“How can you get the players to recognize that it’s an honor? You’ve got to play your best football in the Pro Bowl. So the spirit of this needs to be changed. I’m not sure that can be accomplished now.”
While the caliber of play may not be flashy, at least the outfits will be. The “Nike NFL Elite 51″ uniforms resemble ones the company has designed for college programs such as Oregon, Baylor and West Virginia.