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10-25-2006, 01:13 PM
The sound of success
Wylie quarterback Edwards not slowed by hearing difficulties
By Nathan Sanders / sandersn@reporternews.com
October 25, 2006
Sept. 15, 2006. Wylie holds a tenuous 9-6 lead over visiting Graham, and an apparent touchdown on a kickoff return has just been nullified by an illegal block. The Bulldogs' grip on this game is slipping. They need a big play, and fast.
Fortunately, fast is Gary Edwards' forte.
http://mas.scripps.com/ABIL/2006/10/24/1025WylieGaryEdwards_d.jpg
On first down, the Bulldogs' senior quarterback scampers toward the right sideline, then finds an extra gear normally reserved for NASCAR. Graham defenders with seemingly solid angles of pursuit don't even touch Edwards as he races for a 79-yard touchdown.
The Bulldog Stadium crowd roars its approval as the Wylie band cranks up the fight song. Sounds of Friday night football fill the air.
But Edwards doesn't hear any of it. His hearing aids characterize it all as unnecessary background noise and focus their amplification elsewhere.
''I just hear the people that I'm talking to,'' Edwards said.
Such has been Edwards' existence since age 4, when his day-care teacher noticed he was frequently turning his head to read the lips of those who spoke to him.
Patti Edwards was caught off-guard. Sure, young Gary had always watched TV with the volume way up, but that wasn't unusual. The family lived on the flight line at an Air Force base. Everything was loud.
A trip to the doctor confirmed the teacher's hunch. Gary's hearing was 30-40 percent below normal. Anything quieter than an airplane or a train was beyond his decibel range.
What caused it? No one is certain. It could have been an adverse reaction to medication. Perhaps his ears were damaged by the ash and debris spewed by the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines, where the Edwards family was stationed for 2 1/2 years. Whatever the cause, it meant Gary would wear hearing aids in both ears for life.
But this is no sob story. For Gary's hearing impairment hasn't slowed him down any more than the Graham defense did on Sept. 15.
''Just Go Deep''
Even before the loss of hearing, Gary was a quick learner. He was dribbling a basketball and riding a skateboard at age 2. In the Philippines, he learned the native Tagolog dialect simply by watching cartoons. He then picked up sign language so quickly that his parents stopped teaching it to him at age 8 because they wanted him to develop his English-speaking skills.
''He relies on watching a lot more,'' said his father, Gary Sr., who retired from the Air Force in 2002. ''He does more observation. I see him watch a basketball game, then I'll see him out there doing the moves that he just saw.''
Young Gary's speed quickly emerged, too. Patti said her son ''never stayed still,'' especially when a swimming pool was in sight. Catching him was the hard part.
''I always wanted to race people when I was younger,'' he said. ''I always tried to challenge my Dad to a race, but he always beat me.''
Gary Sr. played football and ran track in high school in Oklahoma, but he was often deployed by the Air Force for months at a time. Therefore, young Gary turned to what Patti called ''substitute Dads'' in the neighborhood for his sports fix.
By age 9, Gary Jr. was playing pick-up games of basketball, baseball and football with teenagers almost twice his age. At 15, he played on a recreational basketball team with grown men.
Given those experiences, playing varsity football as a sophomore was a smooth transition. Edwards earned a varsity letter on the Bulldogs' 2004 state title team, then made second team all-state last fall while averaging 12.4 yards each time he touched the ball.
To minimize the impact of Edwards' hearing problem, Wylie coach Hugh Sandifer taught Edwards the hand motions used to signal plays to quarterback Case Keenum, who would then call the play in the huddle. It worked most of the time x96 even when it didn't.
''Sometimes I would forget, because there would be two plays that were about the same,'' Edwards said. ''I would ask (Keenum), 'What do I do on that one?' He would just tell me, 'Go deep. I'll get it to you. Just go deep.'''
A long touchdown pass was often the end result. After all, telling a receiver that runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds to go deep is rarely a bad idea.
''Trying To Play Quarterback''
Edwards was all over the field in his first two seasons at Wylie, playing running back, receiver, tight end, cornerback, safety, kick returner and punt returner. He also excelled in basketball and track. But with Keenum about to graduate, Sandifer made the decision last spring to try Edwards at quarterback x96 a position he hadn't played since junior high.
Edwards knew the offense from multiple perspectives, and he already knew the play signals. But would he be able to communicate the call in a noisy huddle? To combat that potential problem, Sandifer decided to switch to a no-huddle attack and teach the hand signals to every offensive player. Then Edwards could ask one of his teammates if he wasn't sure about the call.
Edwards was excited. His teammates were excited. Still, there were doubters. Would Edwards really be a quarterback, or would he be an athlete who just happens to take the snap?
''Word got out that Gary was 'trying to play quarterback,''' Sandifer said. ''That's a position that you don't just show up every day and just try. You've got to work every day at watching film and taking reps and reading defenses, and I think he's doing that.''
Edwards put in the extra time, working out the rust in his passing arm by throwing to receivers whenever possible in the spring and summer. His debut was understandably a bit bumpy (7-of-16 passing for 53 yards in a season-opening loss to Brownwood), but as usual, Edwards has been a quick learner. He threw for a season-best 168 yards the next week at Iowa Park, and he has posted at least 137 passing yards in three of the past four games.
As a runner, he's as dangerous as ever. Edwards leads the Bulldogs with 538 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, and he averages eight yards per carry. Clyde coach Craig Slaughter called Edwards ''the fastest human on the planet.''
''He's so fast, he can run around in the shower and not get wet,'' said Big Spring coach Tim Holt, whose team lost 52-14 to Wylie on Sept. 22. ''You can't tackle him if you can't catch him.''
''A Blessed Child''
Quarterback isn't the only change Edwards has made. After being frustrated by hearing aids that stopped functioning when he would sweat and were often knocked loose, he switched to a new pair this past summer that are working well so far.
''He can hear me from his bedroom with the door closed,'' Patti Edwards said. ''I like these.''
Her soft-spoken son doesn't shy away from serving as a role model for hearing-impaired students. He visited the deaf education students at Ward Elementary last season, a trip he hopes to make again soon.
''I just told them, 'Don't be so negative about yourselves. Do what you like to do. If you like riding a bike, go for it. Do anything you like to do. Just don't do what somebody else tells you to do,''' he said.
Like any mother would, Patti Edwards felt terrible about her son's condition at first. Was God punishing them?
She knows better now.
''I think that he's blessed,'' Patti Edwards said. ''With all that he has been through, he is a blessed child. I wouldn't have it any other way. He can inspire other people.''
Wylie quarterback Edwards not slowed by hearing difficulties
By Nathan Sanders / sandersn@reporternews.com
October 25, 2006
Sept. 15, 2006. Wylie holds a tenuous 9-6 lead over visiting Graham, and an apparent touchdown on a kickoff return has just been nullified by an illegal block. The Bulldogs' grip on this game is slipping. They need a big play, and fast.
Fortunately, fast is Gary Edwards' forte.
http://mas.scripps.com/ABIL/2006/10/24/1025WylieGaryEdwards_d.jpg
On first down, the Bulldogs' senior quarterback scampers toward the right sideline, then finds an extra gear normally reserved for NASCAR. Graham defenders with seemingly solid angles of pursuit don't even touch Edwards as he races for a 79-yard touchdown.
The Bulldog Stadium crowd roars its approval as the Wylie band cranks up the fight song. Sounds of Friday night football fill the air.
But Edwards doesn't hear any of it. His hearing aids characterize it all as unnecessary background noise and focus their amplification elsewhere.
''I just hear the people that I'm talking to,'' Edwards said.
Such has been Edwards' existence since age 4, when his day-care teacher noticed he was frequently turning his head to read the lips of those who spoke to him.
Patti Edwards was caught off-guard. Sure, young Gary had always watched TV with the volume way up, but that wasn't unusual. The family lived on the flight line at an Air Force base. Everything was loud.
A trip to the doctor confirmed the teacher's hunch. Gary's hearing was 30-40 percent below normal. Anything quieter than an airplane or a train was beyond his decibel range.
What caused it? No one is certain. It could have been an adverse reaction to medication. Perhaps his ears were damaged by the ash and debris spewed by the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines, where the Edwards family was stationed for 2 1/2 years. Whatever the cause, it meant Gary would wear hearing aids in both ears for life.
But this is no sob story. For Gary's hearing impairment hasn't slowed him down any more than the Graham defense did on Sept. 15.
''Just Go Deep''
Even before the loss of hearing, Gary was a quick learner. He was dribbling a basketball and riding a skateboard at age 2. In the Philippines, he learned the native Tagolog dialect simply by watching cartoons. He then picked up sign language so quickly that his parents stopped teaching it to him at age 8 because they wanted him to develop his English-speaking skills.
''He relies on watching a lot more,'' said his father, Gary Sr., who retired from the Air Force in 2002. ''He does more observation. I see him watch a basketball game, then I'll see him out there doing the moves that he just saw.''
Young Gary's speed quickly emerged, too. Patti said her son ''never stayed still,'' especially when a swimming pool was in sight. Catching him was the hard part.
''I always wanted to race people when I was younger,'' he said. ''I always tried to challenge my Dad to a race, but he always beat me.''
Gary Sr. played football and ran track in high school in Oklahoma, but he was often deployed by the Air Force for months at a time. Therefore, young Gary turned to what Patti called ''substitute Dads'' in the neighborhood for his sports fix.
By age 9, Gary Jr. was playing pick-up games of basketball, baseball and football with teenagers almost twice his age. At 15, he played on a recreational basketball team with grown men.
Given those experiences, playing varsity football as a sophomore was a smooth transition. Edwards earned a varsity letter on the Bulldogs' 2004 state title team, then made second team all-state last fall while averaging 12.4 yards each time he touched the ball.
To minimize the impact of Edwards' hearing problem, Wylie coach Hugh Sandifer taught Edwards the hand motions used to signal plays to quarterback Case Keenum, who would then call the play in the huddle. It worked most of the time x96 even when it didn't.
''Sometimes I would forget, because there would be two plays that were about the same,'' Edwards said. ''I would ask (Keenum), 'What do I do on that one?' He would just tell me, 'Go deep. I'll get it to you. Just go deep.'''
A long touchdown pass was often the end result. After all, telling a receiver that runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds to go deep is rarely a bad idea.
''Trying To Play Quarterback''
Edwards was all over the field in his first two seasons at Wylie, playing running back, receiver, tight end, cornerback, safety, kick returner and punt returner. He also excelled in basketball and track. But with Keenum about to graduate, Sandifer made the decision last spring to try Edwards at quarterback x96 a position he hadn't played since junior high.
Edwards knew the offense from multiple perspectives, and he already knew the play signals. But would he be able to communicate the call in a noisy huddle? To combat that potential problem, Sandifer decided to switch to a no-huddle attack and teach the hand signals to every offensive player. Then Edwards could ask one of his teammates if he wasn't sure about the call.
Edwards was excited. His teammates were excited. Still, there were doubters. Would Edwards really be a quarterback, or would he be an athlete who just happens to take the snap?
''Word got out that Gary was 'trying to play quarterback,''' Sandifer said. ''That's a position that you don't just show up every day and just try. You've got to work every day at watching film and taking reps and reading defenses, and I think he's doing that.''
Edwards put in the extra time, working out the rust in his passing arm by throwing to receivers whenever possible in the spring and summer. His debut was understandably a bit bumpy (7-of-16 passing for 53 yards in a season-opening loss to Brownwood), but as usual, Edwards has been a quick learner. He threw for a season-best 168 yards the next week at Iowa Park, and he has posted at least 137 passing yards in three of the past four games.
As a runner, he's as dangerous as ever. Edwards leads the Bulldogs with 538 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, and he averages eight yards per carry. Clyde coach Craig Slaughter called Edwards ''the fastest human on the planet.''
''He's so fast, he can run around in the shower and not get wet,'' said Big Spring coach Tim Holt, whose team lost 52-14 to Wylie on Sept. 22. ''You can't tackle him if you can't catch him.''
''A Blessed Child''
Quarterback isn't the only change Edwards has made. After being frustrated by hearing aids that stopped functioning when he would sweat and were often knocked loose, he switched to a new pair this past summer that are working well so far.
''He can hear me from his bedroom with the door closed,'' Patti Edwards said. ''I like these.''
Her soft-spoken son doesn't shy away from serving as a role model for hearing-impaired students. He visited the deaf education students at Ward Elementary last season, a trip he hopes to make again soon.
''I just told them, 'Don't be so negative about yourselves. Do what you like to do. If you like riding a bike, go for it. Do anything you like to do. Just don't do what somebody else tells you to do,''' he said.
Like any mother would, Patti Edwards felt terrible about her son's condition at first. Was God punishing them?
She knows better now.
''I think that he's blessed,'' Patti Edwards said. ''With all that he has been through, he is a blessed child. I wouldn't have it any other way. He can inspire other people.''