Mon Nov 22, 2021 – 9:34 pm EST
NELSONVILLE, Ohio (LifeSiteNews) – On September 11, Caden Cox became the first known person with Down syndrome in history to play and score a point in a college football game.
Caden’s mother, Mari Cox, told ESPN College Football that despite being told by a special needs counselor when Caden was in first grade that he would never go to college or even graduate from high school, she and her husband always encouraged Caden to “go for it” when it came to his interests.
From an early age, Caden was already practicing taekwondo, and he now has a black belt, his mother said. He played percussion in band, threw the shot put and discus in track and field, was on his high school dive team and football team, and he “was instrumental in helping start” a high school “inclusion club.”
“He’s always loved football,” said his father, Kevin Cox.
Mari Cox shared how, having already played for his high school football team, “Caden was like, hey, why not try [college] football?”
Caden’s “natural choice” was Hocking College, where his mother works, his dad coaches, and older brother Zane once kicked. It is
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