text: August 4, 2019 12:35pm
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  Quarterback Matthew Stafford normally leads the Lions in the huddle, but that changed Friday when he surprised 14-year-old Calder Hodge with an opportunity to take a snap during an intrasquad scrimmage at Ford Field.
  Hodge, who was born with fibular hemimelia, which left his body without tibia bones in his legs, threw a perfect fade route to wide receiver Marvin Jones in the back of the end zone.
  "It was very emotional," Jones told reporters. "First of all, it was very emotional when we saw his story. That's the type of heart that I want. He's very intense, and the first thing he said to everybody when he was here was, 'I love football. This is what I do.'"
  A Texas native like his favorite player Stafford, Hodge's legs were amputated when he was three years old. Using two prosthetics called "C-Leg," which is a computerized knee that helps with stability, Hodge dreams of becoming the first double amputee quarterback to play in the NFL.
  Following the play, the entire team surrounded Hodge and cheered him on like they won the Super Bowl.
  "It was awesome, you know," Stafford said. "But as cool as it was for him, it's just as cool or maybe cooler for us. He's getting to come out here and throw a touchdown pass to Marvin Jones, but just seeing what he's gone through in his life up to this point and how he's had such an amazing attitude and overcome so much, it's really kind of inspirational for us."
  Hodge had expected to just hang out on the sidelines at the scrimmage but got a surprise when he was called in to join the offense.
  "They were walking me over to the sidelines so I could watch the quarterbacks warm up and Matthew Stafford called me over and it just all happened," Hodge said. "He said, 'All right, you want to throw a fade ball?' And I said yeah."