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www.kansascity.com | 07/25/2007 | Deaf Cowboys cornerback plays by feeling
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy looks at ever-smiling cornerback Martel Van Zant and sees a football player.
“He’s big and fast and can hit,” Gundy said.
What Van Zant can’t do is hear. He’s been in a world of silence since birth. His mother had chicken pox during pregnancy.
But even a short conversation with Van Zant, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior out of Tyler, Texas, shows that sometimes feeling is as important as hearing.
“I can’t hear anything,” he said, signing his words to interpreter Allie Lee, Van Zant’s voice at Big 12 media days and back in Stillwater, Okla.
“It’s only a feeling, a vibration. Like when everybody’s yelling and stomping on the stands, I feel it.”
Asked what was the loudest stadium in the Big 12, Van Zant briefly looked puzzled and then named Oklahoma State’s stadium, home of good vibrations. Van Zant, Oklahoma State’s fourth-leading tackler with 65 a season ago (7.5 for losses), remembers he was playing with other children when he first noticed he was different.
“I noticed the kids would stop playing,” Van Zant said. “But I didn’t understand what made them stop playing.”
Van Zant went to public school, something that forced him to integrate.
“The public-school system was a lot more general for the education,” he said. “Like biology and sciences and math and stuff. Where in the deaf schools, they’re more focused on learning sign language and communication.
“I didn’t want to go to an all-deaf school. I wanted to go to a public school, a hearing school.”
Lee is by Van Zant’s side in team meetings, film reviews, practice and on the sideline at games. He acts as an unintentional buffer between Van Zant and new defensive coordinator Tim Beckman, the intense and just plain loud assistant coach who came over from Ohio State.
“He’s really loud,” Van Zant said of Beckman. “He’s got spit coming out of his mouth and everything.
“If the coach is yelling at me, Allie has to sign. I’ll look at the coach when they are yelling at me. They can’t yell at Allie. I’m the player.”
Gundy sometimes chokes up a bit talking about Van Zant.
“He’s very loyal and dedicated,” Gundy said. “He’s a hard worker. He’s a special person.”
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy looks at ever-smiling cornerback Martel Van Zant and sees a football player.
“He’s big and fast and can hit,” Gundy said.
What Van Zant can’t do is hear. He’s been in a world of silence since birth. His mother had chicken pox during pregnancy.
But even a short conversation with Van Zant, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior out of Tyler, Texas, shows that sometimes feeling is as important as hearing.
“I can’t hear anything,” he said, signing his words to interpreter Allie Lee, Van Zant’s voice at Big 12 media days and back in Stillwater, Okla.
“It’s only a feeling, a vibration. Like when everybody’s yelling and stomping on the stands, I feel it.”
Asked what was the loudest stadium in the Big 12, Van Zant briefly looked puzzled and then named Oklahoma State’s stadium, home of good vibrations. Van Zant, Oklahoma State’s fourth-leading tackler with 65 a season ago (7.5 for losses), remembers he was playing with other children when he first noticed he was different.
“I noticed the kids would stop playing,” Van Zant said. “But I didn’t understand what made them stop playing.”
Van Zant went to public school, something that forced him to integrate.
“The public-school system was a lot more general for the education,” he said. “Like biology and sciences and math and stuff. Where in the deaf schools, they’re more focused on learning sign language and communication.
“I didn’t want to go to an all-deaf school. I wanted to go to a public school, a hearing school.”
Lee is by Van Zant’s side in team meetings, film reviews, practice and on the sideline at games. He acts as an unintentional buffer between Van Zant and new defensive coordinator Tim Beckman, the intense and just plain loud assistant coach who came over from Ohio State.
“He’s really loud,” Van Zant said of Beckman. “He’s got spit coming out of his mouth and everything.
“If the coach is yelling at me, Allie has to sign. I’ll look at the coach when they are yelling at me. They can’t yell at Allie. I’m the player.”
Gundy sometimes chokes up a bit talking about Van Zant.
“He’s very loyal and dedicated,” Gundy said. “He’s a hard worker. He’s a special person.”