Whether it is playing baseball, football, golf, basketball or any other physical activity I have always loved sports. Even playing sports video games, fantasy football or watching sports on TV, I have always been a fan. I remembered about a article that I had read a few months ago about a deaf football player and how the article intrigued me so much. Due to that finding, I decided that I would dig a little deeper to find out more about deaf people in sports and sports in the deaf community.
After going back and finding a number of articles about the deaf football player, I was able to find out a little more about him and his name Martel Van Zandt. I thought it was amazing how he started every game as a Junior for Oklahoma State at the cornerback position.(Rake) The article also talks about how he picked up ASL at an early age and then began playing team sports at the age of seven.(Rake) When Van Zandt signed with Oklahoma State the school went out a contracted a man to be his personal interpretor and it made for a smooth transition for Van Zandt and the school.(Yasinskas) He was not able to attend the NFL scouting combine but did go with his interpretor to let teams know that he is capable of playing at the NFL level.(Yasinskas) Playing at the college level is a huge accomplishment, and is a great story of a man born with a “disability” yet competes not only in sports but in life better than most who do not have a disability. Sadly, after some research and digging Martel Van Zandt was not drafted by a pro team and has yet to be picked up as an Undrafted Free Agent.
There is another well known deaf athlete who has been getting quite a bit of attention because of his success and transition to a new sport. Matt Hamill is a wrestler turned UFC fighter and trained under Tito Ortiz on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show.(Bonagura) Before he became a UFC fighter however, he was a successful college wrestler who was a three-time winning Division III champion.(Bonagura) In January 2007 he attended the National Deaf Prep Wrestling Tournament at the California School for the Deaf. It was a weekend full of wrestling where Fremont beat rival Riverside to a 43-36 win and finished 2nd in the tournament.(Bonagura)
After looking at these two athletes, I have developed an even greater sense of respect and admiration for people in the deaf community. These two men have played, competed and done very well at their respective sports at some of the highest levels. Both are and will be a great inspiration to young kids both hearing and deaf alike. Although they cannot hear, or hear well, deaf people are not disabled in any way. Van Zandt and Hamill have proven this like all people in the deaf community, they may not communicate the same way or be able to hear but they can do everything that hearing people can do and in some cases even more.
Bonagura, Kyle. "UFC wrestling star attends deaf tournament". Oakland Tribune. FindArticles.com. 01 Dec. 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20070121/ai_n17147551
Rake, Jeffrey. "Cowboys' Van Zandt inspires on and off the football field". Topeka Capital-Journal, The. . FindArticles.com. 01 Dec. 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20071018/ai_n21065721
Yasinskas, Pat. “ For Van Zant, it's more than just the injury issue”. ESPN.com. 01 Dec. 2008.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/columns/story?id=3257497
5 comments:
I DONT KNOW IF YOU ARE AWARE THAT THERE IS ANOTHER DEAF FOOTBALL PLAYER. HE WAS AN ALL AMERICAN IN HIGH SCHOOL AND 1ST TEAM ALL NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN JUNIOR COLLEGE AND WENT ON TO PLAY FOR A DIV 1 SCHOOL HE IS 21 YEARS OLD AND HIS LAST YEAR OF DIV1 HE TRANFERED OUT TO A LOWER LEVEL NOT BECAUSE OF GRADES BUT BECAUSE OF THE BIAS THAT CONTINUE IN THIS SPORT DEALING WITH DEAF ATHLETES. THE SMALLER COLLEGE WAS MUCH MORE UNDERSTANDING AND REALLY TREATED HIM WITH TOP RESPECT. HE STARTED EVERY GAME AND EVEN BECAME A CAPTION. THIS KID IS A NOSE GUARD 6'3 300 LBS AND RUNS THE 40 IN 5.0 BENCHES A SQUATS 450 AND 500 LBS 25TIMES.
KIDS LIKE HIM ALL OVER THE US AND STILL NOT ONE IS GETTING A SHOT AT THE NEXT LEVEL.
HE HAS JUST FINISH HIS LAST YEAR THERE SOME BUSS. BUT AFTER CONTACTING AGENTS I CAN SEE THAT THEY DON'T EVEN WANT TO TALK AT ALL.
I never thought I would agree with this opinion, but I’m starting to see things differently.
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