It wasn’t the first time.
Bartram Bears youth football coach Jim McDuffie drew headlines last month for pulling his team off the field during a game due to repeated helmet to helmet hits that were ignored by referees.
The retired Army veteran was initially suspended for a year by irate league officials before they lowered the punishment to one week after a public outcry.
But it turns out McDuffie wasn’t the first coach to forfeit a game against the Callahan Warriors for the very same reason, The Citizen has learned.
During a game featuring 8 and 9-year-olds last year, a Callahan player from the same team McDuffie faced in August — and coached by some of the same personnel — delivered an apparent helmet to helmet hit that sent a youngster flying out of bounds and onto his back.
Video of the incident obtained by The Citizen shows a running back take a handoff, turn the left corner and scamper about ten yard before a Callahan player spears him out of bounds with the strike.
The boy remained motionless on the ground after the play as several Callahan coaches appear to rush to his side before the clip ends.
Sources said a referee initially threw a flag on the play, but later picked it up after being told that the violator would be ineligible for the following week’s playoff game.
Stunned by the decision, the coach of the boy who was hit immediately pulled his team off the field and left the game, according to multiple sources.
McDuffie told The Citizen this week that while he’s now eligible to return to the sidelines for the Bartram Bears, he won’t do so without an apology from the North Florida Athletic League and a written annulment of his suspension.
“I have a moral obligation here,” the Maine native and former high school football coach said. “I’m not going to coach in this league if they aren’t protecting kids. On the first day of practice I tell the boys and their parents that we’re going to play safe, the right way, and be respectful. And if we do that, we’ll probably win a couple of games.”
McDuffie — who referees several sports himself — said his players were coming off the field in tears during the game. “They were saying ‘coach, they’re trying to kill me,'” McDuffie said. “Parents were yelling, they were complaining.”
Callahan players, he noted, were repeatedly leading with their helmets. On one occasion, he said a referee smirked at him after he protested a particular play — but never threw a flag.
Requests for comment from the Callahan Warriors and the North Florida Youth Football and Cheer Conference were not immediately returned.
McDuffie, who lives in St. Johns County, said he was initially hit with a yearlong suspension in a stern letter from the organization.
He was cited for two specific violations — “inciting unsportsmanlike conduct” and removing his “team from the field of play with time remaining in the game.”
Callahan coaches, McDuffie later learned, were livid that the forfeit only gave them a 1-0 victory — and that they wouldn’t benefit from points scored totals that can impact playoff positioning.
They warned McDuffie to keep his distance for 12 months.
“If James McDuffie is found to be volunteering at any NFYFC event, practice or competition, additional sanctions will follow not only for J. McDuffie, but BTAA as well,” the missive stated. “Due to the nature of this act, there is no appeal.”
But after a group of Bartram parents contacted ActionJax, the NFCC quickly reduced the penalty to a week.
McDuffie said he was officially notified of their final decision during a tense Zoom meeting.
“I wanted to explain my position,” he said. “But they wouldn’t let me talk. They spoke to me like I was a 2-year-old and just cut it off.”
His team, the Bartram Bears, are still playing games — but McDuffie remains absent from the sideline.
The retired Sgt. Maj., 50, said he misses his team, but is unwilling to bend his principles.
“I love those kids,” he said. “But I’m not going to coach in a league that takes this approach. The game has changed. The people who don’t understand that are going to see it pass them by.”
