Deaf NFL Seattle Seahawks player Derrick Coleman surprised two hearing-impaired twin girls who are his biggest fans by giving them and their family tickets to the Sunday's Super Bowl XLVIII in a meeting arranged by ABC's "Good Morning America" on Thursday.
Riley and Erin Kovalcik were so overwhelmed by the meeting that they embraced Coleman and endlessly thanked their inspiration.
"They were throwing each other their hearing aids," Kovalcik recalled. "My kids were just blown away. He's a giant guy."
After watching Duracell's commercial featuring the deaf Seahawks fullback Coleman's life story, the two girls from New Jersey penned a letter expressing their appreciation to him for his perseverance and being an inspiration to them. And their father posted a picture of the letter and sent it to Coleman, who shared the letter on Twitter and wrote an open letter in response.
@Seahawks @DC2forlife you've inspired my little girls in a way I never could. THANK YOU! #Seahawks #SuperBowlXLVIII pic.twitter.com/lhpJfCPOSD
— jake kovalcik (@JakeIsMobile) January 21, 2014
"So happy to have these girls come to the game and share this awesome experience with me! #extramotivation," Coleman tweeted on Thursday.
The entire Kovalcik family will be given the star treatment courtesy of Coleman and Duracell, who featured the deaf fullback in a promotional advertisement.
They'll be seated nine rows away from the field as they watch the Seahawks battle the Broncos for the Super Bowl XLVIII championship title.
"He genuinely wanted to meet us," the father said. "It was so touching."
