Imagine hearing nothing but silence. No laughter. No birds chirping. No music.
You can’t hear the roar of the crowd at a football game. The crunch of pads crashing together. The cheerleaders rooting on the team.
You miss out on hearing the National Anthem.
Kuna High School football player Jonathan Edwards realized that this was an issue. The Idahoan had his sights set on helping his team to an undefeated season.
But before the season ended, #32 had another goal, one that has inspired millions of people.
When Jonathan selected the subject for his senior project, he decided to focus on American Sign Language. He took ASL lessons all summer long so that he would be as proficient as a newbie could be when the time came for him to complete his project.
As Jonathan climbed atop a platform dressed in pads and ready to play the game, the crowd was confused. The running back was ready to put his ASL skills to the test before turning his focus to scoring touchdowns.
“We do the National Anthem every game, and I thought it would be a creative idea because you don’t ever see anyone doing that.”
When the first strains of the National Anthem began to play, all eyes fell on Jonathan who began signing to the song.
His mom Chrissy Edwards knew her son was nervous, but he performed wonderfully.
“They definitely put him out there … He had to climb up on the podium in front of everyone.”
Jonathan’s arms and hands swayed to the beat of the song, signing each word of the patriotic piece. When he finished, the crowd exploded into cheers for what they just witnessed.
Head Coach Sherman Blaser couldn’t believe how his player had affected everyone.
“We all got the goosebumps, I guess that’s the best way to describe it. The way he presented it, it was beautiful. To see the effort that he put in to learn the anthem in ASL, and then to be able to provide that service to our community was phenomenal. The best way to describe him is he’s the kind of kid you want your kids to be.”
“I think it a combination of the fact that it was patriotic, and he was putting himself out there to help communicate with people with a disability.”
While Jonathan was encouraged to learn ASL to complete his senior project, he now is considering a pursue a career as a translator. What a wonderful thing Jonathan did for his community!
In recent times, a translator has performed the National Anthem in American Sign Language on behalf of the National Association of the Deaf.
According to John Lee Clark, a Braille instructor, The Star-Spangled Banner is “almost never signed well or in a way that makes sense in our language.” Lori Hilary signed the anthem for the first time at Super Bowl XXVI in 1992.
Now, it was Jonathan’s turn.
Watch Jonathan sign the National Anthem during his high school football game in the video below. It’s quite impressive!
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