PLANO, Texas — Playing high school football is the dream of so many kids growing up in the state of Texas, especially in a place like Plano, with such a proud tradition of success. Andrew Suarez wanted to be a part of that tradition, but being born deaf, he had to learn the game a different way.

What You Need To Know

  • Andrew Suarez was born deaf

  • He began playing football two years ago

  • Next season, Andrew has a chance to be a starter on varsity 

  • There have been a few deaf football players reach the NFL

“I was a little bit nervous,” says Suarez. “Not so much in practice, but at the first game. I was really nervous.”

“To be the parent of a deaf kid is nervous and wonder if he’s gong to be accepted and part of the team,” says Sheryl Suarez, Andrew’s mother.

That nervousness went away quickly as the Wildcats accepted Suarez into their program.

“He is one of us,” says Todd Ford, Plano’s head football coach. “He is absolutely a part of our program. He does anything and everything that we do.”

While Suarez quickly became a part of the team, there was still a lot of learning to do. He was trying to pick up the game without the ability to communicate with coaches as his teammates did. 

“I think it’s hard being deaf and playing football,” says Suarez. 

So, to bridge that gap of communication, Plano ISD provided an interpreter to help Andrew on the field. Victoria Bettencourt can sign with Suarez to let him know what the calls on defense are and what his assignment is.

“I wouldn’t know what to do at practice,” says Suarez — if he didn’t have an intrepreter. “I would keep going but I wouldn’t know what was happening.”

Bettencourt has learned the game of football along with Suarez. Both are figuring out what his job is as a defensive lineman.

“I really just knew the basics. I knew what the point was to score a touchdown and there’s offense and defense,” says Bettencourt. “Now I know why the defense does a specific play, the Mike and Sam and wheel and which side he’s on depends on what we’re doing.”

“That relationship that she has with Andrew is really, really special,” says Ford. “She’s just as important in the process as we are.”

Suarez spent most of this season on the junior varsity team, but Ford believes he could be a starter on varsity next year.

“He plays really, really hard,” says Ford. “He’s physical and that’s the only way he knows how to play.”

Suarez is not only doing this for himself, but also proving to be an inspiration for others in his position.

“I feel proud to show that deaf [people] can do anything,” says Suarez.

“We want him to try and be a part of everybody else, not feel like he is separate,” says Sheryl Suarez. “Just because he’s deaf doesn’t mean that he in any was has a disability.”