A Good Story

As a grad student at Penn State I had a deaf friend who played college football as an undergrad at a Division III school. Great story.

I only wish I'd known when I was the beat writer covering Dartmouth football for the local daily that the Big Green had a deaf player as well. Would have made for a great story. Better, perhaps, than the story of my friend, who I seem to recall was a pretty good running back.

Former Dartmouth linebacker John Stanton's story is compelling not just because he was the rare deaf player at the Division I level, but also because he stuck with it for all four years of a career that saw him get on the field for just one play at the varsity level.

Stanton '93, now a lawyer in Washington, D.C., finally got his due as the subject of a story in Hearing Health Magazine. An undersized linebacker on some pretty good teams in the early '90s, he told the magazine:

Being deaf certainly didn’t help. I wore a small, in-the-ear hearing aid under my helmet that allowed me to hear some sounds at close range. But communication was never easy. And lip-reading through a facemask was no piece of cake either.

The story ends this way:

Stanton’s football tackling days are over, but he may well tackle bigger issues in a public service capacity in the future.

Stanton is grateful for the chance to have played football for Dartmouth, especially during its glory years. And he’s hopeful that more significant athletic opportunities await the D/HH athletes of today and the future.

Stanton, a huge Dartmouth football fan – a supporter of all Big Green sports, actually – is also mentioned in an introduction to the Hearing Health here.

Princeton will have arguably the top returning running back in the Ivy League next fall in tailback Jordan Culbreath. But who will be handing him the ball? That's one of the questions former Dartmouth assistant Roger Hughes will be trying to answer during spring practice in Tiger Town. He tells the school web page:

"A quarterback in our offense must first and foremost be a good decision maker in regard to both ball distribution and play execution. I am excited about the progress of our current quarterbacks and I am sure that they, as well as I, are looking forward to their competition during spring practice. Currently, the position is wide open."

And finally, an update on those certain Hanover High School kids. The junior is starting catcher, leadoff hitter and a captain of the softball team. They had their first scrimmage this week and she had their only hit, a two-run homer. She also threw a runner out stealing. The freshman is an undersized catcher for the junior varsity baseball team. They haven't scrimmaged yet but he should also get some time at second base once the games start.