Derrick Coleman Research Paper

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Derrick Coleman Jr. was born on October 18, 1990, in California. When he was three, his mom and dad took him to a specialist who told them that Coleman was basically deaf in his left ear. By the time he was in elementary school the hearing in his right ear was gone. He then began wearing hearing aids, which assisted Coleman to hear again. However, some kids at school began made fun of him for wearing the large devices. When Coleman was in seventh grade, he wanted to play football. His moms was resilient to let him play, worried that the hearing aids would fall out during the game or take a hit that could make his hearing worse. Coleman’s dad was insistent on letting him play, thinking that football could give him a better shot at being a normal …show more content…
Because of his accomplishments, he was rated ESPN's No. 2 fullback nationally. In 2008, Coleman went to college at UCLA, where he majored in political science. He had limited playing time during his first two years, but during his junior year, Coleman played in 11 games and was ranked second in gaining yards. In his senior year, Coleman won the Prothro Award and also received the coaching staff’s Paul I. Wellman Memorial Award for All Around-Excellence. Even with putting up concrete numbers in college, Coleman wasn’t chosen for the 2012 NFL draft. In August 2012, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks, making Coleman the third deaf man to play in the NFL and the first deaf offensive player. He was a part of the Seahawks' Super Bowl XLVIII championship team, becoming the first deaf player to play in the Super Bowl. The Seahawks also went to the Super Bowl in 2015; however Coleman was injured and did not play. His comeback to anyone who was rude was to ignore them or turn the volume down on his hearing aids. "That's the one good thing about having 'em, you guys have to actually listen when somebody's talking. I just turn 'em off." says
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in the NFL and winning a Super Bowl Championship. Imagine people doubting you your whole life because you're deaf and they expect you to amount to nothing. Imagine being Derrick Coleman and going through all the struggles and hardships that he has went through to live out his dream of becoming an NFL football player. Derrick Coleman was born October 18th, 1990. He first became aware of his deafness when he was three years old and his family took him to an audiologist that he would eventually see throughout…

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Derrick Lamont Coleman Jr. was born October 18, 1990 in Los Angeles. At the age of three, his parents took him to a medical specialist that told them that Coleman is essentially deaf in his left ear. Soon in middle Derrick also lost hearing in his right ear as well. Forcing him to wear hearing aids changed his life in multiple ways. He could hear once again and some kids at his school started targeting him because of the devices he had to wear. As he became older the bullying didn't affect him as…

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