When Bart and Marci Goldstein found out minutes after their son Jared was born that he had a short femur in his right leg, they envisioned years of pain, surgery and perhaps ridicule for their son. Football was the farthest thing from their minds. They figured it would be the farthest thing from Jared's mind, too. "I pretty well figured out that how his life was going to be was up to us," Marci said. "If we coddled and spoiled him, he'd have a lousy life. If we expected things as normal kids, he'd be OK. I also realized it could've been so much worse."

Jared Goldstein works on his  passing in preparation for Friday’s  game against Montclair, in which  he is expected to start at quarterback.

Despite requiring a prosthesis because one leg is six inches shorter than the other, 5-foot-7, 135-pound junior Jared Goldstein has confounded many by playing quarterback for his father at Chaffey High School. Even more amazing, the younger Goldstein is expected to start Friday night against Montclair. This after a long road of struggles as he underwent several surgeries to try and lengthen the bones in his right leg from an early age.

Now a junior, Goldstein plays  quarterback for the Tigers under  his father and coach, Bart Goldstein

But to keep the bones separate, Jared had rods sticking out of his leg, which Bart likened to a bicycle wheel.

"Depending on which surgery it was, he had anywhere from 16 to 20 rods sticking out of him," Bart said.

And Jared, who underwent about 20 such surgeries, still needed crutches.

It was obvious the surgeries weren't working.

Jared grew up around football, spending a good portion of his youth close to the Fontana program. That's where his father was an assistant coach and a member of the 1987 national championship staff.

"He (Jared) was a pseudo ball-boy," Bart recalled. "Because he really couldn't get on and off the field fast enough."

Jared tried his hand at several sports as a youngster. He was a pitcher in Little League. He tried swimming. His family suggested golf and wrestling. Anything that didn't include running.

"We're saying, why don't you try swimming. É Anything but football," Bart said.

But Jared persisted.

"It's fun (playing football)," he said. "I like to play. I've made a lot of friends, I like being on the team and competing."

Jared also played flag football as a youngster, but Bart says that mainly consisted of Jared handing off to Jarrett Brown, now a junior running back/defensive back at Rancho Cucamonga.

Jared grew more and more fed up with the failed surgeries and the pain and came to a difficult decision.

"He was now old enough to make that decision," Bart said. "But it was a decision we had never really considered."

Jared informed his father of his decision during a Chaffey game while he was in junior high school.

"He said enough was enough," Bart said. "The leg wasn't normal to begin with, and lengthening had nothing to do with it because the knees are in different spots."

Jared decided to have his right foot amputated. He then could be fitted with a prosthesis that would end the surgeries and lessen the pain.

"I wanted it to be done," Jared said, "but I was nervous. I was hoping that it was the right decision. I thought about it for quite a while."

There was plenty of paperwork to be done, and the surgery wasn't performed until the fall of Jared's freshman year. Jared did not play football that year because the Goldsteins were awaiting final word on the surgery.

Jared's right leg was amputated below the knee, which is better than an above-the-knee amputation because it gives him better range of motion and the ability to put more weight on the prosthesis.

He still desired to play football, but his parents tried to dissuade him.

Jared won.

Jared played on the junior varsity last year, and during the fifth week he broke his arm. No one found out about it for two weeks.

They didn't find out until a practice when he attempted a pass.

"All of a sudden, his arm goes 'pfft,' " Bart said. "And he just falls to the ground."

"I knew it was broken against Pomona," Jared said. "I knew my season was over. I just postponed my vacation two weeks."

His parents were understanding.

"I wasn't mad at him, I was mad at the fates," Marci said. "How could this be happening? He's already had enough garbage happen to him."

Said Bart: "I understood that he had waited too long to play, that I couldn't get pissed off."

The injury did end his season, and again his parents tried to convince him to give up football. Jared went to the weight room in the offseason and bulked up.

He improved his strength enough for his father to give him a chance to play. But Jared was sure he would be playing on the JV team, because of Marshall Turner's talent at quarterback.

Before the second game this season, Turner went down with an ankle injury. Jared was available to play, but he was a little nervous about playing varsity. So Luke Enriquez, who starts on defense, played that first game until Jared could warm to the idea of starting a varsity game.

He hasn't passed much, handing off to Chris Jones, the Inland Valley's No. 2 rusher, most of the time, completing 5-of-6 passes in three games, including one for a touchdown.

Turner is now healthy, but Jared saw playing time again last week in a win against Ontario, completing three passes. Now, he's starting this week against Montclair. Turner will move to wide receiver to better utilize his speed.

"It's a good feeling, like my hard work has paid off," Jared said. "Sometimes, I have doubts, but I just shake them off. I have some pretty good receivers to throw to (Turner and Pierre Johnson)."

It's been an easy transition for all involved.

"These guys (linemen) baby the hell out of him," Bart said. "They don't let too many guys take shots on him."

Turner would rather play wide receiver anyway.

"You might think that (Jared can't play)," Turner said. "Until you see him play."

Marci has struggled with the idea of her son playing, but is very slowly becoming used to it.

"I worry about my babies getting hurt," Marci said. "But the more he's played, the less nervous it makes me. It seems like he has a gigantic line in front of him.

"I still watch real carefully when he's in there. When he threw to Pierre Johnson (against Ontario) É I was excited when he did that."

But for Jared Goldstein to play, it's not a normal procedure. It takes him about five minutes to put on his "football leg," which is more heavily padded than his "school leg," to keep other players from getting injured. And his mobility still isn't great.
 

Jared and Bart both realize that Jared probably wouldn't be playing if his father wasn't the coach. "He has to go through a lot of hassle with the refs," Jared said, "and no other coach would've done that." As Chaffey's Athletic Director, Bart Goldstein says he would've tried to convince the parents of a kid with a prosthesis to not play football. Jared Goldstein is playing this year. But what about next year? "I'm just trying to get through Friday night," Bart said.

Born with a short femur bone  in his right leg, Jared Goldstein (7)  has faced challenges all his life,  including the decision he himself made  as a freshman at Chaffey High  School to have part of the leg amputated.