Young Katy football player shows heart on and off the field

KATY, TX -- While most youth football players are perfecting their tackles, one 10-year-old from Katy is tackling something bigger. Peyton Walker is selling specially designed t-shirts to raise money for MD Anderson Cancer Center and a very special person with breast cancer.

On this hot August day, Peyton Watson's mom and dad sit on the sidelines watching football practice for FO1 Sports in Katy. They're proud parents. However, it's not their son on the field. It's their daughter.

"She's loved football since she was a baby. Anywhere she saw one, she would pick it up and start throwing it," her mom, Tracy Watson, remembers.

"I used to play it in the house a lot. I played with my dad in the backyard. I loved it so much," adds Peyton.

She may be the only one with red fingernails on the field, but the team doesn't treat her any differently. Coach Joe Goudeau says, "They hit her same as they hit each other. They pick her up. They slap her hand. They have no problem with her being out here."

Watson says, "She's the best of both worlds. She can be your girly-girl, or she can be a tough girl."

That's why Peyton designed "TUFF GIRL" t-shirts that she sells to raise money for MD Anderson, the hospital where her grandmother is fighting stage three breast cancer.

"It hurts her to see her without hair, and it hurts her to know every time she goes she gets shots," Watson says.

In the first two days, Peyton raised $200.

"To me, that's pretty remarkable for a kid that age," says Goudeau.

She's not stopping there, and there's no stopping her other dream either.

"She wants to play for the Katy Tigers," Watson says.

"I believe the young lady can do anything she wants to do. There's no doubt she can do anything," adds Goudeau.

If you'd like to buy one of Peyton's "tuff girl" t-shirts, you can buy them at www.booster.com/tuffgirlbypeyton.