Deaf America’s Team: the rise of the Gallaudet University Bison

At first glance, it’s not obvious that nearly everyone on Gallaudet University’s football team, the Bison, is deaf or hard of hearing. In most ways, the game proceeds exactly as it would on a fall Saturday at any other small university in the US. Players bump chests animatedly after important plays. Cheerleaders try to pump up the crowd during timeouts. A fan of the away team loudly swears over the more polite cheers of those around him.

Certain differences, however, eventually emerge. Five strikes of a resonant bass drum alert Gallaudet’s special teams units (many of whom are busy having sideline discussions with coaches) to upcoming punts and kicks. In lieu of using a headset, offensive lineman John Scarboro communicates with a coach standing far away atop the crowded stands via American Sign Language (ASL). And, instead of having someone sing the national anthem before kick-off, the cheerleading team performs it in ASL while standing at midfield.

Gallaudet (pronounced GAL-eh-DET, as if the ‘u’ were silent) is the world’s only liberal arts university explicitly devoted to educating deaf and hard of hearing students. Established during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, Gallaudet is older than (American) football itself and, in fact, played an important role in the sport’s development. In 1894, concerned that other teams might interpret his team’s ASL play calls if they were signed in the open, Gallaudet quarterback Paul Hubbard circled his teammates a few yards from the line of scrimmage to discuss strategy. Thus was born the huddle. (There are a few competing claims to the huddle’s origin, but Gallaudet seems to have the strongest case. Even hall-of-fame University of Illinois coach Robert Zuppke, who is himself