Perhaps you remember the Duracell commercial from Super Bowl XLVIII, the one pitting the Seattle Seahawks against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos on Feb. 2, 2014. In the ad you see the name Coleman on the back of a Seattle jersey and hear an announcer say “Derrick Coleman,” followed by a closeup of a small, white hearing aid attached to the back of the football player’s right ear. Then you hear the following words:
“They told me it couldn’t be done. That I was a lost cause. I was picked on. And picked last. Coaches didn’t know how to talk to me. They gave up on me. Told me I should just quit. They didn’t call my name. Told me it was over. But I’ve been deaf since I was 3. So I didn’t listen. And now I’m here with a lot of fans in the NFL cheering me on. And I can hear them all.”
By the close of that night’s game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the whole world was cheering for Coleman as Seattle crushed the Broncos 43-8.
“One of my best memories on the football field is celebrating the Super Bowl 48 victory in New York,” Coleman wrote in an email this past week. “Not only my teammates, but my high school and college friends/teammates that supported me and rally with me whenever needed!”
Come Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the Westin hotel in Chattanooga, Coleman will attempt to rally our community to support the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults when he speaks at its RISE 2020 luncheon. RISE focuses on how communities rise together to support neighbors in need.