In 1894, Gallaudet invented the huddle, as the nation's four-year private college for deaf and hard of hearing students needed a way to keep its play calls from being intercepted by opposing teams.
In 2023, the school is at the forefront of the next innovation in play-calling. On Saturday, Oct. 7, the football team will debut a new helmet. Designed by AT&T, the helmets feature a heads-up display that allows a play call to come in from a tablet on the sidelines and be displayed on a small screen in the quarterback's helmet.
The connectivity allows the Gallaudet sidelines to better communicate with players on the field. Otherwise, a player must be looking directly at a coach in order to receive communication, using American Sign Language.
Gallaudet's opponent, Hilbert College, agreed to allow the technology to be used in the game.
“We work out the same way as every other college football program, we practice the same way, we compete the same way,” said Gallaudet coach Chuck Goldstein. “The difference between coaching a hearing team compared to a Deaf team is first the communication. The AT&T 5G-connected helmet will change football.”
In gratitude to the players and coaches at Gallaudet University for their collaboration on the development of the AT&T 5G-connected helmet, AT&T is donating $500,000 to the school's football program. In addition to the 5G-connected helmet and devices, AT&T is giving every Gallaudet player a new helmet.