Q: How do the football teams at the State Deaf School in Vancouver and other deaf schools in the nation call the snap count?

From: Seattle Times, WA - Nov 11, 2003

Q: How do the football teams at the State Deaf School in Vancouver and other deaf schools in the nation call the snap count?

A: Most schools for the deaf use what is called a "slap count," although some use a big drum because players can feel the drum's vibrations even though they can't hear it.

The late longtime coach at State Deaf School in Vancouver, Bob Devereaux, used the "slap count."

Devereaux would have his quarterback line up behind the center and slap his hips. That would start a sequence in which everyone on the team would follow the QB's movements.

When the ball was about to be snapped, the QB would slap the inside of the center's legs, then ball would be snapped. The players would watch the ball, just as other teams usually do in noisy stadiums when the cadence can't be heard. The slaps leading up to the snap were the quiet equivalent of "Hut 1! Hut 2!"

Devereaux had some wonderful seasons in the 1960s and 70s against small-school competition, including an 8-0 record in 1978. That team was ineligible for the playoffs because it played an independent schedule. It was a tough schedule, though, that included wins over three state-playoff teams. The team included one lineman from the nearby Washington School for the Blind, who was legally blind but had enough vision to do what linemen do best — hit the players in the opposite-colored jerseys.

Devereaux, who retired years ago, died a few weeks ago at age 66 in Vancouver, Wash. He coached track, basketball and football at the school and also was a teacher and principal during his career before retiring.

In 1972, his boys track team tied for the state Class B championship with Connell.

In 1984, the Deaf School had a state first: a female player who was also homecoming queen. She was Kathy Wilson from Woodinville, who played on the line with the guys.

Steve Schoenberg, a student manager who decades later helped Devereaux coach football in 1991, said, "He had a sense of humor that enabled his players to relate to him. He was able to get the most out of his athletes and some of these kids came to the school with limited athletic experience."

Devereaux wasn't deaf but was well-suited for the school because he was the child of deaf parents.

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