“You told me that I can’t really play football because of my hearing loss, I went out there and did it. That’s the end of the story, right there.”
With those words, Super Bowl-bound Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman concludes a new first-person video account of his inspiring journey from a hearing-impaired youth to the biggest game in football.
Coleman’s story went viral in a spine-tingling Duracell commercial, and it melted a few hearts when he exchanged letters with 9-year-old twins Riley and Erin Kovalcik of Roxbury, N.J., who are hearing impaired. Coleman met the elated twins Thursday on “Good Morning America” and set them up with Super Bowl tickets for the family.
In his testimonial on the website HearingLikeMe.com, titled “No Excuses,” Coleman credits his parents for encouraging his football dreams and getting him to ignore the social stigma of being deaf: “My parents used to take me everywhere with them and kind of force me into those situations. Basically made me who I am today, made me a very talkative person.”
If it gets loud at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Coleman has a lifetime of experience to draw on.
“Sometimes it’s a benefit for me because I can read lips,” he says. “I’ll be able to understand what the quarterback is saying before everyone else do.”