Deaf College Football Player

Printed in the Olathe News in September 2007

Deaf College Football Player
By Leonard Hall

Every year, there seems to be one outstanding college football player playing for a major university in NCAA, who is either deaf or a child of deaf parents (CODA). Often, deaf people will search the football games on cable television to watch this player plays college football.

Last year, it was Jamal Anderson, hearing son of Dr. Glenn Anderson, who is an outstanding deaf administrator at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Anderson played for University of Arkansas in several televised college football game.

Anderson was often the leading tackler for Arkansas and involved in many key plays that helped Arkansas to a winning record. Anderson has been drafted to play in the National Football League.

This year, the top deaf college football player is Oklahoma State University cornerback Martel Van Zant. Several years ago, Van Zant was one of the best high school cornerbacks in Texas, when he decided to go to OSU.

During his sophomore year at OSU, he became a starter at cornerback. Last year as a junior, Van Zant started all of OSU football games at cornerback.

Van Zant was fourth on the OSU team with 67 tackles and had two interceptions. The important fact for any cornerback is that he deflected eight passes.

With several Big 12 football league football games being shown every Saturday, there is a good chance that deaf fans will be able to watch Van Zant, with his jersey number 7, plays cornerback for OSU.

With several Big 12 football teams, including Kansas University, Missouri University, and Texas Tech, passing the football a lot, Van Zant will be seen on television covering wide receivers.

OSU football coaches said that Van Zant is very competitive and is very aware of what’s going around him in playing college football games.

OSU defensive football coach said that Van Zant has the best vision and a seventh sense for playing football. Van Zant does not lose his concentration and can focus on the football and wide receiver.

Van Zant has an interpreter who accompanies him to all team meetings, practices and games.

Van Zant is also a good speech reader and can read body language very well.

In many ways, Van Zant is a lot like Kenny Walker, who played linebacker for University of Nebraska four years and the professional Denver Bronco team in the National Football League for several years in the early 1990s.

One time, I met former Denver Head Coach Reeve and asked him about Kenny Walker. Reeve said that Walker was a competitive football player with outstanding vision and concentration. Reeve said that Walker was one of the few football players he enjoyed coaching.

When Coach Reeve left Denver Bronco football team to come the head coach for the New York Giants football team, the Denver new football coach released Walker from the football team.

Later, Walker served in several deaf community projects in Missouri and Nebraska, including the independent living center in St Joseph, Missouri for several years.

Hopefully, Van Zant will follow in Walker footsteps, play in the NFL, and become a good role model for deaf children across the Midwest.

(Leonard Hall writes a weekly column on the deaf community and can be reached at Legalnetwk@aol.com.)