Deaf Football Player Shines for Mountain View Bears

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Ty McRae has played football for years, but he's never once heard a quarterback's count, a referee's whistle, or a cheering crowd.

But boy, do they cheer when he makes a play for Mountain View High School in Gwinnett County. He's an 11th grader whose actions speak louder than words ever could.

Friday night football -- the excitement level on the field and in the stands provides sights and sounds that are unique and unmistakable.

But to Bears junior fullback Ty McRae, Friday night is quiet.

Ty was born deaf, but that doesn't stop him from playing varsity football for the Mountain View Bears.

"He really doesn't think there's anything he can't do or anything he can't be a part of," said Ty's mother Sherry McRae.

And it doesn't stop him from enjoying the sounds of Friday night in his own way.

"I can feel their support when they're screaming. It makes me feel good. It makes me want to hit somebody really, really hard," said Ty McRae through an interpreter.

"He really loves the game, and he plays with passion. He said he loves to hit people. Oh yeah, he's not scared of anything," said junior and quarterback Christopher Bartlett.

Ty and sign language interpreter Erin Ratigan are almost inseparable on campus. Assigned by Gwinnett County, Erin goes to every class with Ty. And after school, she's on the practice field or in the field house which took a little getting used to.

"It was a little awkward because it smells. It smells. The first time I went into the locker room for a meeting I was like, oh no this is horrible, but I got used to it," said sign language Erin Ratigan.

But on game night, Erin can't be in the huddle, and Ty can't hear the quarterback - so he's learned football's version of sign language, watching the coaches' signals so he knows what play to run.

"I just stand in the huddle and wait for everyone to break up and then I go to my position and then I just stay there until the ball moves. I'm watching it so when it moves, I move," said Ty McCrae.

"This is pretty cool. And it really is, that a young man that had some hurdles to overcome, is jumping them and is able to be out there and play and not just getting in at the end of the game, he's playing when bullets are flying in Region Seven 5A football," said Tim Hardy.

From the "Go Mountain View" t-shirts in the stands to the show of applause in sign language, Ty's popularity is obvious.

"He's a funny dude. He's fun. He smiles all the time, He's a happy person," said senior running back Eddie West.

And despite being the only deaf student at Mountain View High School, he is thriving academically, socially, and of course, athletically.

"Deaf really basically just means you can't hear. It doesn't mean that you can't do anything else," said Ty McRae.

After riding more than hour on a school bus each way for more than a year to Berkmar High in Lilburn for the Gwinnett Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, Ty and his family requested a transfer to the school in his home district which is Mountain View, so he could get what his mom calls a more real world experience.