Quiet statement

Van Zant, 23, who plays for the Manchester Wolves of Arena Football 2, never hears a sound. He was born without eardrums because his mother had chicken pox when she was pregnant. But he more than makes up for that with his heart.

"I can't hear it, but yeah, I can feel it pounding," says Van Zant through a sign-language interpreter. "It's hard to explain. It's more like when you feel excitement. I feel every beat in my chest. It's so great."

Van Zant's goal is to be the third deaf player to make it to the National Football League. Bonnie Sloan played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973 and Kenny Walker played for the Denver Broncos in 1991-92.

Van Zant's road from Tyler, Texas, to Manchester was a joyous one, he says. He has no "growing up African-American in the Deep South" stories. No complaints about prejudice or discrimination because of his deafness. No tales of coaches ever telling him he couldn't play.

"Maybe behind my back, but never to my face," he says.

In fact, his story is just the opposite.

"A lot of people find out I'm a good athlete and a good person," he says. "They go out of the way to try and help me out."

In Manchester, that person has been Wolves assistant head coach Brian Hug, who learned sign language because his parents are deaf.

"I knew how to sign before I knew how to speak," says Hug.

Van Zant doesn't know what all the fuss over him is about.

"It's not a handicap," he says. "I consider myself the same as a hearing person. I went through mainstream schools and everything else."

He started playing football when he was 13 after trying soccer, basketball, and track.

"No one pushed me," he says. "I just liked football. When I was small, I liked the Cowboys, especially Emmitt Smith."

Considered a top prospect coming out of Tyler Lee High School, Van Zant was recruited by, among other schools, Oklahoma State, in part because former OSU coach Les Miles has a deaf brother and knows some sign language. Oklahoma State gave him a scholarship and hired an interpreter. Van Zant thrived, finishing fourth on the team in tackles as a junior.

He was nominated for the Football Writers Association of America's Courage Award and won the school's Mike Johnson Award for outstanding spirit and enthusiasm. But in his senior year, he dislocated an ankle tendon and needed surgery. He was not drafted by the NFL, though the Tennessee Titans invited him to camp before later cutting him.

"I understood why I was cut," says Van Zant who runs a 4.4- second 40-yard dash. "I was still hurting from my ankle injury. I was slow on my 40 times. You've got to perform right away.

"I just wanted another chance when I healed, but at that level they don't give you another chance."

"I looked at the draft and noticed that Martel Van Zant got nothing," said Barto. "I thought, 'This is kind of strange. He had good numbers at Oklahoma State.' This made no sense."

When he found out Van Zant was deaf, he asked Hug his opinion. Hug immediately embraced the idea.

"The biggest thing that I was fearful of was, can I communicate with him?" says Barto. "Can we commit the time to give him a chance?"

Hug considered it an homage to his father, who worked at a Ford plant in Michigan for 45 years. He also convinced Martel's mother back in Tyler that her son would be OK.

"I was terrified," says his mother, Alice Van Zant. "I don't know anyone in New Hampshire."

Van Zant confesses to being "a little bit lonely here, but I've got roommates. Some of the guys have picked up sign. It makes me feel good and proud that these guys are taking an interest with me."

Chiseled in muscles, Van Zant wears faux diamond studs in his ears that he got at Wal-Mart. Sometimes he walks into team meetings with an iPod blaring.

"I feel vibrations," he says.

"What a great guy," says teammate Al Phillips, another defensive back. "Out of nowhere, he'll just start dancing and stuff. He's real smart and he reads lips. He's just one of the guys."

Van Zant says there are advantages to not being able to hear.

"It helps me focus," he says. "Some people talk trash and try to take somebody out of their game. But they can't bother me and take me out of my game."

Barto changed his system to one he used previously, which divides the field into quadrants. He also learned some sign language.

"I'll be honest with you," says Barto. "He's made me a better coach because now I slow down a little and check what I have communicated. Martel has a chance at the NFL, probably on special teams."

Hug says things are going smoothly with Van Zant.

"We do hand signs," says Hug. "Our safety makes the calls. Martel is also smart enough to know the plays in motion and checks.

"When he plays, I'm always there. I tell him that was good or bad. I'll always tease him or give him a hard time.

"To me, he's just a happy-go-lucky person. He's playing what he loves."

In a win last week against Mahoning Valley, Van Zant had the fumble recovery, seven solo tackles, and one pass defensed.

Opponents often don't realize he can't hear.

"That's amazing," says Taz Wallace of Mahoning Valley, who lined up across from Van Zant on a kickoff. "God bless him."

"I don't have a lot of bills, so it's worth it to see if I can make it in the next two or three years," he says. "This is better than being in the working world."

He says it doesn't bother him not to hear the roar of the crowd.

"I think it would sound like static," he says. "It's hard to think what sound is like, because I've never heard it. I think I'd rather hear the sound of a bird or nature."

At Oklahoma State, he could feel the vibrations of 40,000 fans, and they came up with a special applause sign for him: They raised their arms and flapped them skyward.

Van Zant says that if he doesn't achieve his dream of playing in the NFL, he will coach others to get there.

"I'd like to start at the high school level," he says.

Barto says that at least in one way, Van Zant's deafness came in handy.

"We have a snorer on the team, our nose guard," says the coach. "He snores bad, so we put Martel in as his roommate on the road."

Stan Grossfeld can be reached at grossfeld@globe.com.