With his 6-foot-1, 251-pound physique, UK’s Terry Clayton looks like a typical football player.
But the senior linebacker from Logan County in western Kentucky is an exceptional guy, making good grades in the classroom.
Now a senior majoring in kinesiology in the College of Education,
Clayton has already earned SEC Academic Honor Roll for two straight years.
And he is even more exceptional when you find out that he can’t hear very well at all. He is a feel-good story as a mostly-deaf student who has earned playing time as a walk-on at Kentucky. He has almost no hearing without the hearing aid.
When Clayton was five years old, he had a traumatic experience.
“I had chicken pox and lost my hearing,” Clayton wrote in a recent e-mail interview (after having a brief face-to-face meeting with this columnist at a UK hoops game in Rupp Arena this past winter).
Then he went to the Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville for several years and that’s where he learned to sign, read and write.
Later he went back home and eventually attended Logan County High School where he was a four-year starter in football. He was named All-Sky Conference as a linebacker and voted “Cougar of the Year” (the school’s top all-around student) as a senior.
He also was a member of the Kentucky all-star pigskin squad which faced Tennessee’s all-stars in the annual summer series in 2003.
Clayton, whose parents have regular hearing, also lettered in track and field at Logan County, once finishing third in the state of Kentucky in the shot put as a junior and fourth in the discus as a senior.
“When I went back to Logan County, they got me an interpreter and she helped me with communication,” he said.
With the help of a powerful hearing aid, Clayton said his primary mode of communication is one-on-one.
“I can lip read most things. Sign language is important for classes and group (activities),” he added.
At UK, Clayton has help when attending classes since the professors often move around in the classroom and sometimes talk too fast. As you can imagine, he isn’t able to lip read (or read signs) and write notes at the same time.
“I watch the interpreters (sign) and UK provides me with note takers,” Clayton said. “Also the professors often give me copies from the PowerPoint (slides).”
Clayton got a special honor last year when he received the Carol S. Adelstein Award for a UK student who has overcome disabilities to achieve success.
“Terry has clearly demonstrated to his teammates and coaches what an outstanding person he is because of the way he has dealt with and overcome his disability,” said Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks in 2006 when Clayton won that special award. “He has found ways to compensate. Our players love working with him. He gives you everything he has and takes a lot of pride in everything he does.”
Clayton, who saw action in three games on special teams during UK’s 2006 Music City Bowl campaign, doesn’t wear a hearing aid during the games or practices. He is very dependent on lip reading and body language.
“I can’t hear the crowd at all without my hearing aid, but I can feel it, like a rumble,” said the Wildcat player. “I try to stay face to face with the coaches all the time and read lips and body language. Sometimes I watch teammates and react.”
On UK’s upcoming 2007 season with a difficult schedule, Clayton said he is very hopeful about his team’s chances for a winning campaign.
“It will be a tough road, but I think we will be successful and go to another bowl game,” he said.
Despite his deafness, Clayton has been an academic success story. He has a very strong work ethic, according to folks who work with him. What makes him hit the books hard?
“I want to be a role model and let people know you can succeed if you work hard enough,” Clayton explained.
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In addition to his severe hearing loss, Clayton has another human interest tidbit.
While this columnist didn’t have a chance to ask him about his post-UK playing career, Clayton sure can get some free advice if he wants to try out and play pro football. He has two well-known relatives who has participated in the NFL.
According to a 2005 article in the Kentucky Kernel, the student daily newspaper at UK, Clayton has an uncle, Mark Clayton, who is a former star for the Miami Dolphins. He also has a cousin, Michael Clayton Jr., who plays wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m deaf or not, I can still do it,” said Terry Clayton in the Kentucky Kernel. “What is really important are my skills. I can do anything if they give me a chance.”
Regardless, after his playing days are over, Clayton said in an e-mail that he hopes to teach physical education and health with the deaf children and coach football some day.
Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of four books about UK basketball. He is a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro and can be reached by e-mail at CatsUpClose@yahoo.com.
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