That was one sweet tweet.
A hearing impaired 9-year-old New Jersey girl became an Internet sensation after writing a touching note to deaf Seattle Seahawks star Derrick Coleman, charmingly calling him ”my insperation.”
“I know how you feel. I also have hearing aids. Just try your best. I have faif in you Derrick,” wrote Riley Kovalcik of Roxbury, whose identical twin sister Erin is also hearing impaired.
“Go Seattle Seahawlks!” the third-grader added in the adorable note.
“I did it because Derrick Coleman was inspiring to me because he can help other kids know that you can anything with hearing aids,” Riley told The Post Wednesday.
The running back is the first legally deaf offensive player in NFL history, and will be lining up against the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium.
Riley’s dad, Jake Kovalcik, tweeted the little sweetheart’s letter to Coleman, a 23-year-old UCLA product who was not drafted but still worked his way into the NFL.
“@Seahawks @DC2forlife you’ve inspired my little girls in a way I never could. THANK YOU! #Seahawks #SuperBowlXLVIII,” the proud father wrote.
Riley’s mom Tracy said the whole family was in awe after hearing about Coleman’s story in a TV ad for Duracell batteries.
“The ad is fantastic, he talks about his childhood and growing up being deaf and how hard it was. Everyone told him he couldn’t play football but he overcame that. It really touched both of my daughters,” she said.
“So during the game Sunday, Riley said ‘I think I’m going to write him a letter’ and my husband tweeted it, and then the Seahawks retweeted it and now it’s crazy.”
Riley said the response caught her by surprise.
“It was supposed to be just for him, but then it went viral and now everybody is talking about it,” she said.
Her proud mom said Coleman’s story inspired both Riley and Erin.
“They’re both hearing impaired and seeing what he did had a big impact on them,” she said.
Coleman responded to Riley’s note on Wednesday.
https://twitter.com/DC2forlife/status/426067092333285376/
He told The Seattle Times he was surprised at the reaction the ad has gotten, which was bigger than he expected
“I knew I was going to be able to touch some people, and that the hearing-impaired and deaf community — that it would get to them. I am happy that it did,” he said.
Coleman uses batteries to power hearing aids that let him hear a 7 or 8 on a scale of 10, compared to 1 or 2 when he does not use them, he said.
The bruising 6-foot, 233-pound backup fullback suffered a sudden loss of hearing at age 3 and is legally deaf.
The ad was published on YouTube last Friday and has been viewed about 9 million times.