by Saysha Mahadevan (‘24)

If you’ve watched any football recently, you may have seen the ads for AT&T’s new 5G helmet for deaf and hard-of-hearing players – that’s how I found out about it! This new initiative immediately piqued my interest, so I followed the link to the official website to find out more. I was even more intrigued once I discovered that AT&T had partnered with Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., the world’s first university for the deaf and hard of hearing. Gallaudet already had a famous past with football, being the inventor of the huddle. The huddle, invented in 1894, allowed the players to use ASL to communicate their plays without the fear of them being read by the opposing team. Now, AT&T is helping players at Gallaudet combat another challenge presented by deafness: receiving plays from their coach. 

On October 7th, 2023, the Gallaudet Bison debuted the AT&T helmets for the first time on the field. It was head coach Chuck Goldstein’s first time selecting the play on his touchscreen playbook, and quarterback Brandon Washington’s first time seeing the play appear on the small, transparent screen in the helmet, delivered from the playbook tablet via 5G technology.  

Washington not only loved what this new helmet allowed him to do, but he loved the cushion and comfort it provided his head too. Of the actual screen, Washington told USA TODAY Sports, “The lens is not too big or too small, so I can see really, really good out of it. I really love the helmet.” The helmet was not the only win for the Bison that day; they also took a win on the field, beating the Hilbert Hawks 34-20. 

Other Gallaudet players have expressed their love for the AT&T helmet as well. Alumni linebacker Stefan Anderson felt as if “the world just instantly lifted off of [his] shoulders”. For Deaf and hard-of-hearing players, that world can feel pretty heavy, especially on the field. The Bison share that they have to work through interpreters, focus on signing while also focusing on the play, and look to the sideline to see the play from the coach, all while still keeping their head in the game. This often leads to frustration and missed information. For quarterback Trevin Adams, the helmet lifted these barriers. Head coach Chuck Goldstein described the helmet as “a game changer for all Deaf and hard of hearing football players”. He explained that his players had always been known as the “Deaf star player”, but at Gallaudet, they were just regular players, and this new technology was making them feel even more that way. 

In their video promotions of the helmet (it is worth noting that they are not for sale, just being promoted so AT&T’s work with Gallaudet University can be showcased), AT&T featured hard-of-hearing artist Amitra Daughtry singing “The Sound of Silence” as the music track. Daughtry shares in an interview that she was “ecstatic” when AT&T contacted her to create a demo of the song for this helmet, and she truly gave it her all because she knew it would reach others outside of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. She said she sees this new 5G technology as “a symbol of change to come”. And with all that AT&T is doing to bring awareness to Gallaudet’s and Daughtry’s Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, I can’t wait to see what more they will do.