The Football Girl

KETTERING, Ohio (AP) - As a young girl, Holley Mangold loved the contact of football and would even show off her bruises as a badge of honour.

"I thought they were really cool," she said.

That toughness will be tested this year when the 17-year-old senior prepares for playing time at Alter High School in this Dayton suburb - helping anchor the offensive line, fending off girls-shouldn't-play-football attitudes, and trying to emerge from the shadow of her brother, Nick, centre for the New York Jets and a former standout at Ohio State.

"It's really rough. I'm not going to lie about that," she said of trying to make her own way in the jet wash of her brother's accomplishments.

Holley has the physical tools and strength.

She weighs 315 pounds, bench presses 265 pounds and has squatted 525 pounds.

How strong is she? She escaped serious injury in a recent head-on collision that demolished her truck by pushing the steering wheel away from her body as the crash occurred, leaving the steering wheel broken and crumpled.

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