Derrick Coleman (NFL) Biography, Height, Weight, Parents, Family

Quick Facts

American football fullback player Derrick Coleman defied all odds to get to where he is in his profession. Diagnosed with a hearing problem when he was a little above the age of a toddler, this NFL player has indeed shown that there are no limitations to achieving success if you really aim for it.

Let’s take a look at his bio, how his career started and every other interesting detail about this fullback player.

Derrick Coleman’s Bio

Derrick Coleman was born with the full name Derrick Lamont Coleman Jr. on 18th October 1990 in West Los Angeles California, United States of America. At the age of three, he was diagnosed of an ear impairment by a Pediatric Hearing Specialist who told his parents that little Derrick was going deaf in the left ear, specifying that he would completely go deaf because of genetics. Derrick’s parents did not have a specific inbuilt hearing gene, which meant that any child they created together would likely have a hearing defect and unfortunately, he became a victim of this genetic disorder. As a result of the disorder, Derrick Coleman started wearing a hearing aid when he was in elementary school and ended up being bullied by his schoolmates who would pick on him for wearing the hearing aid.

Derrick’s football career continued to blossom as he left elementary school and got enrolled in Troy High School, Fullerton, California. He landed the title of Most valuable player of the team and first team all-league in his senior year. He also broke the season record when he made 38 touchdowns and scored 232. In addition to that, ESPN named him the no.2 fullback nationwide.

His college days were also as exciting on the filed as his high school days. At the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) where he earned a degree in Political Science, Derrick Coleman was able to play football with the help of a headgear to prevent any further damage to his ears. During his college career, he was able to win the Outstanding Special Teams Player given by UCLA’s Tommy Prothro Award for 3 times. He also landed the coaching staff’s Paul I Wellman Memorial Award for All Around-Excellence during his senior year.

NFL Career

In spite of his successful college football career, Derrick was not drafted into the National Football league upon graduation in 2012 rather, he was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent but was waived that same year. However, all hope was not lost as the Seattle Seahawks signed him in December 2012. This officially made Derrick Coleman the third deaf man to play in the NFL; the other two being Bonnie Sloan in 1973 and Kenny Walker in 1991. He recorded his first touchdown in the game against New Orleans Saints and got a spot on the Seahawks Super Bowl XLVIII championship team.

The fullback’s next team was the Atlanta Falcons with whom he signed on 21 March 2017 recording his victory match against the Chicago Bears on 10th September 2017 in a game that ended with 23 -17 pts. Currently, he is signed with the Arizona Cardinals after completing every necessary paperwork for the transfer on May 9th, 2018.

Family – Who Are His Parents?

The fullback is the son of Derrick Coleman Snr. and May Evans who played a major role in his life. In his early days, Derrick credits his confidence and high self-esteem to his parents who never gave up on him. In 7th grade, Derrick took the courageous step to start playing football and though his mum was skeptical about his new found hobby, his dad encouraged him to play. After being cleared by their family doctor to play, Derrick became the new star on the field as he is said to have played with more vigor and made more tackles than his mates.

Derrick’s mum May revealed in an interview that the world would perceive your child the way you do and all children are to be given equal opportunities as they had given Derrick.

Height, Weight, and Other Facts

Derrick Coleman is a dark chocolate hunk who is graciously built with a height of 6 ft 0 inches which is approximately 1.83 m and a weight of 106 kg which is approximately 233 lbs.

Back in 2014, Derrick was used in an advertisement for Duracell Batteries and the commercial turned out to be a huge success as it was highly talked about nationwide. It even attracted the attention of twins Riley and Erin who wrote him a letter of encouragement as they too had similar challenges like the fullback. Touched by their act of kindness, Derrick in collaboration with Duracell invited their family to watch the Super Bowl XLVIII Live on February 2, 2014.

It is also worth knowing that the fullback is of the Christian faith and a man who is self-motivated in addition to his optimistic nature. Derrick is said to believe he has no limitation as he once shared that whenever someone says he could not do something all he tells the person is to watch him and he had proved to the world that there is no excuse to achieve greatness.

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