[dmz]

My understanding was that he was the team manager, not a player.

[rwfromkansas]

Exactly. He wasn't supposed to play, but the coach let him since this was his last chance to. The coach obviously loves him a lot.

[fortunecookie]

Oh, I missed that part. How nice they could put him in then, and what a pay off!

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

My understanding was that he was the team manager, not a player.

What does that mean if he was autistic? That he could pretend he was on the team at practice but nobody had the guts to put him in a game until the last 5 minutes of his "career"? That calling him the team "mascot" instead would be wrong? They knew he could shoot. They just weren't willing to risk a lawsuit if the 'retarded kid' got hurt.