The legend of Andrea "Poo Poo" Aaron has grown as she has grown, a girl who plays football better than boys - or so the story goes.

Did she really lead her team in tackles and rushing yards for most of five seasons? Did she score every touchdown in the playoffs as the Tampa Bay Youth Football League Raiders reached the 2004 Pee Wee Super Bowl? Did she really hit two boys on the same play so hard she made both cry?

"I've seen it all with my own two eyes," said former Bucs lineman Ian Beckles, who coached Poo Poo as a Pee Wee. "I think a lot of the other boys are scared of her. Flat-out scared. I'm telling you right now, you have never, ever, seen a girl play like this. Never."

Just ask the boys.

Says Garian Brown, a defensive back for the opposing Jaguars: "There are usually a couple of girls in the leagues, but none of them play anywhere near like Poo Poo. With Poo Poo, we never, ever think of her as a girl.

"You have to get after her because she breaks tackles. She plays like a man. She hits really hard."

The legend of Poo Poo - her parents called her Poo as a toddler - gathered strength three years ago, when Beckles talked about her on his radio sports show. The story, Beckles says, started in 2000 with Poo Poo's mother, Brenda Williams.

Williams, 39, is a single mother who raised seven children while working as a manager at Church's Chicken. She was a defensive tackle for the Tampa Tempest, a former women's pro football team.

"That's where I saw how much Mama loved playing," said Poo Poo, "so I wanted to play, too."

On Saturday, Poo Poo celebrated her 12th birthday exactly where she wanted. She and her mother pulled into Tampa's Skyway Park in their black Kia. A Raiders flag flew from the window, and the license tag read, "Poo Poo 4,'' a reference to Poo Poo's number.

Mama was fired up.

She knew Poo Poo, who is 5 feet 1, 130 pounds, was going to be playing against bigger opponents after being bumped up to Midgets weeks earlier.

She would get almost every handoff and be in on most tackles as a linebacker against one of the Jaguars. And because her team is 1-5-1 and has been outscored 70-0 its past two games, Poo Poo was expected to absorb a lot of hits. When the Raiders gathered for a pregame pep talk, Williams was in the middle.

"Now you guys have gotta start blockin'!" she bellowed. "You have to get in there and hit somebody and give Poo Poo a chance to do her thing."

Poo Poo got all but two handoffs, and though she was about the only player on her team to gain positive yardage - almost always after breaking two or three tackles - she was often hit behind the line.

Williams let the line have it after the 34-0 loss: "You guys play scared! You didn't block anybody! There were five or six guys hitting my baby every time. You gonna get her killed!"

Williams said she isn't worried about her daughter getting hit.

"This is football, a game I played," she said. "I know what it's all about, and I know my baby can handle it."

Williams said this might be Poo Poo's last year of football. She is heading into a developmental stage, physically and emotionally, and there are other sports that interest her.

Did Poo Poo wish she had spent her birthday doing something else?

"No," she said, showing a glimpse of a smile, "There is no place else I wanted to be. This is where I wanted to be on my birthday. Right here."