{"id":12061,"date":"2010-10-15T16:30:07","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T21:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=12061"},"modified":"2010-10-15T17:05:03","modified_gmt":"2010-10-15T22:05:03","slug":"panther-player-interpreter-carry-long-time-relationship-to-football-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/10\/15\/panther-player-interpreter-carry-long-time-relationship-to-football-field\/","title":{"rendered":"Panther player, interpreter carry long-time relationship to football field"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Panther player, interpreter carry long-time relationship to football field<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Posted: Saturday, October 9, 2010<\/p>\n<p>By GARY STALLARD\/The Lufkin Daily News<\/p>\n<p>He doesn\u2019t hear the sounds of pads smacking in the middle of the line he\u2019s<br \/>\nattacking, or the grunts from an opposing player with whom he\u2019s made<br \/>\ncontact. He\u2019s not privy to the sounds that make high school football the<br \/>\nsensory overload it always is: The band playing the Lufkin fight song, the<br \/>\ncheerleaders chanting, \u201cLP!\u201d or the crowd roaring at its full-throated<br \/>\nloudest.<\/p>\n<p>But Lufkin Panther sophomore defensive end Demontrai Lewis, deaf since<br \/>\nbirth, doesn\u2019t need to hear any of it.<\/p>\n<p>He can feel it all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe it,\u201d Lewis said through his interpreter, Rene<br \/>\nHeintschel. \u201cI can feel some of what\u2019s going on around me. I can feel the<br \/>\nvibrations, and I can tell when there\u2019s someone near me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can feel it through my feet. I can tell when the crowd is really excited<br \/>\nor whether everyone is quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heintschel is the other part of Lewis\u2019 story. A sign-language interpreter<br \/>\nfor Lufkin ISD, Heintschel has known the young man, and served as his<br \/>\ninterpreter, since he was three years old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had him as a student when he was three,\u201d Heintschel said. \u201cWe\u2019d walk<br \/>\naround school together, and he\u2019d hold my pinkie with his tiny little hand.<br \/>\nNow, he\u2019s just 15 years old, 6\u20193\u201d and 210 pounds and my whole hand fits<br \/>\ninside of his.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bond they\u2019ve formed over the past decade-plus has grown into much more<br \/>\nthan that of student\/teacher. Heintschel describes her extra-large sidekick<br \/>\nin ways completely unrelated to the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s always \u2018Yes, ma\u2019am\u2019 or \u2018No, ma\u2019am\u2019 and \u2018Please\u2019 and \u2018Thank you\u2019,\u201d<br \/>\nHeintschel said.  \u201cIf we\u2019re walking together, he always holds the door open<br \/>\nfor me while signing, \u2018Ladies first.\u2019 If I\u2019m carrying a load of books, he\u2019ll<br \/>\nwalk up and take them from me and carry them wherever I\u2019m going. He\u2019s an<br \/>\nabsolute gentleman at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Their relationship has made easier Lewis\u2019 transition to high-school<br \/>\nfootball. When coaches want to relay information or signals to their player<br \/>\non the field, it\u2019s Heintschel standing on the sidelines employing sign<br \/>\nlanguage to get the message across.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s my ears,\u201d Lewis said.\u201d She helps the coaches talk to me, and helps me<br \/>\ntalk to the coaches. She helps me learn the game faster. She\u2019ll tell me<br \/>\nthings even the coaches won\u2019t say to me, and it\u2019s to help me play better<br \/>\nwhen I\u2019m out on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And at times, Heintschel\u2019s message comes straight from Heintschel \u2014 based on<br \/>\nher personal knowledge of the youngster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBasically I\u2019m telling him the plays the coach is sending in,\u201d Heintschel<br \/>\nsaid, \u201cbut sometimes I can tell from Demontrai\u2019s body language when he\u2019s<br \/>\nfeeling down or frustrated, and I try to \u2018coach\u2019 him up. I\u2019ll tell him, \u2018Hit<br \/>\nthat guy, make sure he knows by the end of the game who Demontrai Lewis<br \/>\nis.\u2019 That usually gets him pretty fired up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heintschel isn\u2019t the only member of Lewis\u2019 support group. During<br \/>\nWednesday\u2019s weight-room session, Lewis\u2019 teammates lined up to help him<br \/>\nthrough the reps on the inclined bench and leg press. They tap his shoulder<br \/>\nto get his attention and offer big smiles and fist bumps as encouragement.<br \/>\nFor his personal role models, Lewis cites another pair of Panther defenders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI watch (teammates) Darrell Kelly-Thomas and Jackson Randle and see what<br \/>\nthey do, and I try to do the same things,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cThey\u2019re great role<br \/>\nmodels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also the group following him on Friday nights all the way from<br \/>\nTrinity, where Lewis resides. His entire family, there to see No. 96<br \/>\nbuilding a name for himself on the gridiron.<\/p>\n<p>Those family members are also the reason Lewis declines to participate in<br \/>\nany form of trash talking \u2014 through sign language or otherwise. In fact,<br \/>\nLewis said he\u2019s glad he doesn\u2019t have to hear some of the stuff he knows is<br \/>\ngoing on during any given game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, that\u2019s a benefit,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t act that way for one<br \/>\nreason: My whole family comes to watch me play. I have to watch my body<br \/>\nlanguage and attitude on the field because I don\u2019t want to embarrass any of<br \/>\nthem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis\u2019 grandmother, Beverly English, said her grandson has been playing<br \/>\nfootball since he was old enough to keep his helmet on straight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe played with the Pee-Wee leagues,\u201d English said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t hard for him<br \/>\nat all, and I guess it\u2019s because I come from a football family. I have five<br \/>\nbrothers; his dad, his mom \u2014 everyone in his family has played some kind of<br \/>\nsport. I think this just comes naturally for Demontrai.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never doubted he\u2019d play high school football. He\u2019s never been a kid who<br \/>\nused his situation as any kind of excuse not to do what he\u2019s capable of<br \/>\ndoing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite living in Trinity, Lewis is able to attend and play for the Pack<br \/>\nbecause Lufkin ISD is the regional day school program for the deaf,<br \/>\nservicing students from Trinity to Livingston, from Colmesneil to San<br \/>\nAugustine. Liz Speer, Deaf Education Teacher for the district, said Lewis\u2019<br \/>\nfamily is the biggest reason he\u2019s able to hit the field on Friday nights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are the school district that can provide for their needs,\u201d Speer said.<br \/>\n\u201cTheir home campuses don\u2019t have the same capabilities, so these kids are<br \/>\nable to bus into Lufkin for school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut their school districts only provide transportation during regular<br \/>\nschool hours. For any extracurricular activity, the family is responsible<br \/>\nfor the transportation. Demontrai\u2019s family supported his decision to play<br \/>\nfootball, and one of them is here every day to take him home after<br \/>\npractice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The up-and-coming 10th grader is making a name for himself as a tough,<br \/>\nintelligent player with unlimited potential. Heintschel said Lewis is<br \/>\ngetting better at a more rapid rate than others because he\u2019s not distracted;<br \/>\nthat Lewis is able to stay completely focused on everything in front of him<br \/>\nby developing a very keen sense of \u201cfield vision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery much so,\u201d Lewis agreed. \u201cI don\u2019t play around, and I don\u2019t want<br \/>\nanything distracting me. I try and stay focused on my own assignments, and I<br \/>\ndon\u2019t worry about whatever\u2019s going on around me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another Lufkin coach stated plainly, \u201cHe\u2019s a great story now, but he\u2019s going<br \/>\nto be an even better one in a couple of years. This young man can play<br \/>\nfootball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Told that his coaches are predicting bigger and better things down the road<br \/>\nfor their remarkable young player, Lewis simply shrugged off the praise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope so, but that\u2019s later,\u201d Lewis said through Heintschel. \u201cI want a<br \/>\nstate championship this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want that ring now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gary Stallard\u2019s e-mail address is garylstallard@yahoo.com.<\/p>\n<p>Source:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lufkindailynews.com\/sports\/article_fe3ca5c6-d425-11df-a2db-001cc4c002e0.html\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/lufkindailynews.com\/sports\/article_fe3ca5c6-d425-11df-a2db-001cc4c002e0.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Panther player, interpreter carry long-time relationship to football field Posted: Saturday, October 9, 2010 By GARY STALLARD\/The Lufkin Daily News He doesn\u2019t hear the sounds of pads smacking in the middle of the line he\u2019s attacking, or the grunts from&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/10\/15\/panther-player-interpreter-carry-long-time-relationship-to-football-field\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[4621,6804,1408,6805,6803,831,619,40,6806,6802,6807,191,528,88,17],"class_list":["post-12061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-article","tag-beverly-english","tag-coach","tag-darrell-kelly-thomas","tag-demontrai","tag-football","tag-high-school","tag-interpreter","tag-jackson-randle","tag-lufkin","tag-rene-heintschel","tag-sign-language","tag-student","tag-teacher","tag-texas"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-38x","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29423,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/12\/03\/deaf-football-player-shining-at-kilgore-college\/","url_meta":{"origin":12061,"position":0},"title":"Deaf football player shining at Kilgore College","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"December 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Deaf football player shining at Kilgore College October 28, 2014 By Ryan Peterson CONNECT Kilgore College freshman Demontrai Lewis KILGORE, TX (KLTV) - Kilgore College defensive end Demontrai Lewis makes a big play and the crowd goes wild. Lewis can't hear a thing. What he can't hear, he can see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14943,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/07\/06\/deaf-chat-coffee-lufkin-texas\/","url_meta":{"origin":12061,"position":1},"title":"Deaf Chat Coffee &#8211; Lufkin, Texas","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"July 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Deaf Chat Coffee - Lufkin, Texas Friday, July 22 \u00b7 7:00pm - 11:30pm Location: Starbucks 2210 S 1st St Lufkin, TX Created By Lufkin DeafChat Let's all gather together for some FUN and conversation in a SIGN LANGUAGE environment! --- This will be our first monthly gathering! --- Come have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/deafchatflyer_Lufkin.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17599,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/02\/10\/deaf-chat-coffee-lufkin-texas-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":12061,"position":2},"title":"Deaf Chat Coffee &#8211; Lufkin, Texas","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"February 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Deaf Chat Coffee - Lufkin, Texas DATE: Every fourth Friday of the month TIME: 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm ADDRESS: 2210 S 1st St Lufkin, Texas Deaf Chat in Lufkin, Texas Starbucks at 2210 S 1st St and join us for socializing in a signing environment, meet new people and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12692,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/12\/24\/born-deaf-dunbar-second-grader-wins-uil-prize-for-storytelling\/","url_meta":{"origin":12061,"position":3},"title":"Born-deaf Dunbar second-grader wins UIL prize for storytelling","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"December 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Born-deaf Dunbar second-grader wins UIL prize for storytelling Posted: Sunday, December 19, 2010 12:15 am | Updated: 6:47 pm, Sat Dec 18, 2010. By MELISSA CRAGER\/The Lufkin Daily News To win a medal in a University Interscholastic League (UIL) academic competition is viewed as an accomplishment for any second-grader. For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20118,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/09\/27\/william-randall-randy-wynn\/","url_meta":{"origin":12061,"position":4},"title":"William Randall \u201cRandy\u201d Wynn","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"September 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"William Randall \u201cRandy\u201d Wynn William Randall \u201cRandy\u201d Wynn, 53, of Colbert, Oklahoma passed away Tuesday Morning September 25, 2012 at his home. He was born August 17, 1959 in Lufkin, Texas to James Monroe and Mahotta LaNell Brown Wynn. He attended Colbert Schools and the Jane Brooks School for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14530,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/05\/31\/miss-deaf-texas-pageant-recruiting-new-contestants\/","url_meta":{"origin":12061,"position":5},"title":"Miss Deaf Texas Pageant Recruiting new contestants","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"May 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Miss Deaf Texas Pageant Recruiting new contestants The Miss Deaf Texas Pageant is coming to Houston on July 23, 2011! We are actively recruiting contestants. The deadline is June 17, 2011! There's still time! We are looking for a few good Deaf ladies from the following cities: San Antonio Dallas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12061"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12073,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12061\/revisions\/12073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}