Doughty Plays With Only 4 Senses

When the Redskins drafted Reed Doughty out of Northern Colorado (a I-AA school) a few years ago they thought they were getting a decent athlete who did well in college against lesser competition. Not usually the resume that gets you drafted in any round (he was taken in the 6th). He was drafted because he is smart-and not just on the field. Doughty was a 3 year Academic All American to go with his high "Football IQ" After a strong showing on special teams Doughty was thrust into the starting role after the death of All-Pro Sean Taylor and he did a good job. Now he has all but locked down the starting role this year after an off-season competition with Stuart Schweigert. Now the few of you who are still reading are probably thinking who gives a flying f*ck. What makes Doughty an interesting story is that he has severe hearing impairment. His hearing is bad enough that when he is not on the field he wears hearing aids in both ears. When he first joined the 'skins the coaches couldn't figure out why Doughty was playing like a moron in practice. For a while they figured that he was just a stupid smart guy. Eventually one of the coaches saw that Doughty was trying to read his lips and they made him get a hearing test in which they learned that he had severe hearing loss. So when I read about this in the Washington Post today I was shocked. It is simply amazing to me that a player with lesser physical tools who can't even hear.