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| The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind's reaction after being told they are the 2013 Deaf National Champions. (Photo by Will Brown.) |
By Will Brown
I received a text Saturday morning asking whether I
was interested in covering a football game.
My first thought was to say no. I was tired and the
fact I was asked to cover the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind unnerved
me. I had nothing against the players or the fans, my concern was my ignorance
would lead me to accidentally offending someone.
Thankfully, I didn’t turn down the assignment. A win
for the FSDB over California School for the Deaf-Fremont meant the home team
would be the deaf national champions for the third time in school history.
When the home
team intercepted a pass with no time remaining to seal the win, the crowd was
just as loud, rowdy, raucous and celebratory as any other that I’ve witnessed
in my life. Someone had the spectacular idea to bring confetti so that was
flying through the air long with the cheers when it was all over.
In the four hours I spent observing and reporting
the game, I learned more about the deaf community than I had in my life.
The first thing was not every player is completely
deaf. Some are deaf, but others are hearing-impaired.
There was also a visually impaired player on the
field for the Dragons. With a smile the FSDB president told me they keep it
pretty simple for the offensive lineman who is visually impaired. They tell him
who to block, and that person remains blocked — no questions asked.
I was the one with a lot of questions during the
game. Most of them were answered by the
affable public address announcer.
When the PA announcer was not calling the game,
giving shout outs to the families of players who traveled to St. Augustine for
the game and playing music he was giving me the low down on the school, certain
players, and why a win on Alumni Weekend would mean so much. It turns out the
PA announcer is the boys basketball coach. He didn’t say how long he’s been on
the microphone, but the ease in which he kept things going indicated he was no
novice.
FSDB ended the 2013 season, its 100th
playing varsity football, with an 8-1 record. The California school finished
the season 5-5.
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| Players and coaches at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind pause to take a post game picture after a 44-31 win to claim the Deaf National Championship. (Photo by Will Brown.) |
Both teams had good athletes. They just didn’t have
a lot of them, which is to be expected at small schools. Would some of the boys
I saw on the field star at your local powerhouse? No. Would they have played at
most schools? Definitely.
About 90 percent of high schools could use a kid who
runs great routes at wide receiver and doubles as a reliable placekicker, as
the California school had. Most high school coaches would salivate if they had
a 6-foot-3-inch quarterback, with good speed, who knows how to run the option,
as the Florida school did.
As the day wore on, I began to appreciate the
smaller things.
- On most assignments I quickly search the colors of the schools I’m covering and look to wear something that clashes—lest I be accused of favoritism. Saturday, I didn’t bother to do the research. It turned out the red polo shirt and royal blue T-shirt I wore to the game are FSDB’s colors. And not a single person cared. If anything it made people less defensive when I asked my many questions.
- When I went to walk across the track, onto the field after the game, I tripped over a rail on the inside line. At first I thought why was that rail there? Then I remembered that there is probably a young boy or girl who is visually impaired who runs track. The rail keeps them from running off the inside lane and into the grass.
- After the game I wanted to speak to players and coaches. My usual method of walking up to them and asking for an interview likely wasn’t going to work since I didn’t know a lick of sign language. After one player put his hand to his ear to explain he couldn’t hear me, a woman named Sue Hall was kind enough to translate for me.
- During the biggest plays of the game, the FSDB supporters were blaring drums, standing on their feet and recording the moment on their smartphones and tablets just like any other fans in Northeast Florida.
- The school has televised every home football game via a live stream. By the end of the game, more than 200 different computers were logged on to watch the thrilling conclusion.
- When students were trying to cuddle up during the game they left a little more space between them than their peers. (The extra space was used so both the boy and the girl could sign with each other.)
Every boy I interviewed was so happy afterward he
gave me a hug. The combination of the ecstasy of victory and the thrill of
having their name in the newspaper was enough to cue the spontaneous embrace.
When everything was over, and I was walking toward
the track — this time more careful to avoid the rail — I left with a new
perspective. As happy as the players were to see their accomplishment
highlighted in the paper, I was just as appreciative they taught me a lesson in
life.
Laughs and liveliness,
-Wb
