Deaf Bowie High safety Kaleb Phifer earns 10 college football scholarship offers

Kaleb Phifer, a senior safety for the Bowie High School Volunteers in Arlington ISD, has received ten college scholarship offers to keep playing football. Phifer is deaf, and he has built his role on the team by showing up to workouts and working with coaches and teammates to communicate and sharpen his game, according to NBC 5 DFW, which featured him on its Wake Up to Something Good segment.

Phifer started playing football in eighth grade. He says he chose to focus less on what might hold him back and more on showing coaches and teammates who he is through consistent work and commitment. On game days, sign language interpreter Tori Talora stands on the sideline and gives him hand signals so he can follow the play calls. When he misses one, he looks to the sideline, tells a teammate the call is back, and the group moves on.

Bowie head coach Joseph Sam, who also serves as the school's co-athletic coordinator, described Phifer as one of the team's better players and a leader. "He's on our leadership team, and seeing him succeed on and off the field has been a great inspiration for our football team," Sam said.

Phifer plans to graduate in the spring, play football in college, and earn a business degree. His message to other young people is direct: "Don't let anybody tell you what to do just because you're deaf or because of a disability that you have."

Original reporting by NBC 5 DFW, which first published this story on its Something Good coverage.