SEATTLE, Wash. — “They didn’t call my name, told me it was over. But I’ve been deaf since I was three… so I didn’t listen.”
Those words are the defining message not only of the above inspirational commercial from Duracell, but for Derrick Coleman’s football career. Coleman has a genetic hearing impairment and didn’t get a start in football until his mother cut a pair of pantyhose he would wear with his hearing aids to eliminate feedback for Pop-Warner football.
The Seattle Seahawks’ fullback wasn’t selected in 2012 NFL Draft despite scoring 11 touchdowns and picking up an average of 5 yards per carry during his senior season at UCLA. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by Seattle and became the first deaf player in NFL history to play on offense.
After defeating the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs, he and his teammates are one win away from Super Bowl XLVIII in New York. You can watch Coleman and the rest of the Seahawks take on the San Francisco 49ers on FOX 4 Sunday night, coverage begins at 5:30 p.m.
