The football gods have finally smiled upon the 2014 Super Bowl with a story that thankfully doesn't mention outspoken Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, something that is definitely nice to hear.
Since sending the media and the football viewing world into a firestorm with a braggadocious "rant" following the Seahawks' victory over San Francisco in the NFC Championship Jan. 19, Sherman has spewed precious little of a controversial, or even an interesting, nature.
But leave it to the media hounds, in this case hearing-dogs, to leave no story untreed, uncovering the fact that little-used Seattle fullback Derrick Coleman gave Super Bowl tickets to some inspired hearing-impaired fans.
Coleman, it seems, is the first offensive player in NFL history who is legally deaf.
But also leave it to these hardscrabble writers to miss a more interesting story involving deaf players and the history of the game of football. That the first instance of the the now-ubiquitous huddle formation came into use at all-deaf Galludet Univsrsity in 1892. Quarterback Paul D. Hubbard realized that his hand signals could be read by opposing deaf players, so had his players form a circle so that his signals could be sent and received without anyone seeing.
The formation was soon adopted by many American football teams, and is now commonly used in many sports, notably cricket, soccer and Canadian football.
This tidbit is the most informative piece of information heard in the two weeks leading up to the "Big Game."
