PORTAGE, MI –– Jeffery Wilson’s adversity looks a little different than the average high school football player.

Wilson and his fellow seniors celebrated together, arms locked as brothers after their game on senior night at Portage Central High School, despite a loss.

It wasn’t the end of their season, but symbolically, it was a conclusion.

Wilson’s had a consistent smile on his face for the last four years. It wasn’t as easy as he made it look.

“I was born deaf and hard of hearing,” said Wilson, a defensive lineman. “We didn’t find out I was deaf until I was three or four. It was not easy. It was kind of hard, frustrating.”

Deafness has presented different challenges throughout Wilson’s life. But he didn’t want to be looked at differently because of it.

“I think there’s a lot of negative deaf things, like how they talk. … Every person is very different,” Wilson said. “Some people thought I was weak, but they found out who I was actually and were like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s cool, he’s awesome.’

“See, told you,” Wilson said with that smile.

Wilson has become a pro at reading lips. He sees it as one of his biggest strengths.

Sometimes he uses it to eavesdrop on conversations, he said with a laugh.

Wilson has a slight speech impairment, but it could go unnoticed by someone meeting him for the first time.

They might not know he was deaf unless he told them.

When Wilson was in fourth grade, he got a cochlear implant put into his ear to help him perceive sound.

It was big and blue, he remembers.

Not as fancy as the slick black one he has now, which has built-in Bluetooth he uses to listen to music as much as he can.

He can also turn it off, should he no longer want to listen to someone.

Being hard of hearing doesn’t eliminate sound completely for Wilson, rather makes it very faint, which is why the implant is a help but not a cure-all.

The downside was, the implant was surgically installed, and playing football might risk damaging it or further impacting his hearing.

“My grandma told me I might never play football (again),” Wilson said.

But before he even went to the doctor, his father gave him the confidence that he could still play.

“Oh, you’re still going to play,” he remembers his father telling him.

Then they got the good news from the doctor. Wilson could keep playing football.

“I was super happy,” Wilson said. “It was awesome.”

‘They absolutely love having him’

As the Portage Central seniors reached the end of the field, arm in arm, Wilson broke away from his teammates and gave his interpreter for the past four years, Emily Brown, a big hug.

“She’s been here with me and I’m very grateful for her,” Wilson said.

Brown, who met him on the field during a practice in his freshman year, shares the sentiment.

He hadn’t asked for help. But from school to sports, Brown made sure he had support.

Wilson found the support especially useful during the pandemic, when masks prevented him from reading lips.

“I’m like, ‘I can’t understand this, I’m going to fail this class,’” Wilson said.

After not using sign language his whole life, Wilson learned it on the fly.

“That first practice I showed up, I just started signing,” Brown said. “And for someone who doesn’t know sign language, that’s like helpful, and not helpful at the same time. … But it does clarify things and he’s reading my lips, he’s a champ at that.”

Brown still jokes with Wilson about his signing.

“I know I need to work on it,” Wilson said.

On the field, coaches and players have learned ways to accommodate.

“The coaches have awesome relationships with the interpreters and it makes them closer to Jeffery too,” Brown said. “I think they absolutely love having him on the team. I know they do. And they will miss him. Same.”

Soon, communication became seamless.

“The kids have adapted to it, whether it’s hand signals, whether its points, they kind of have their own system out there,” Head Coach Mick Enders said.

It was difficult playing football in junior high without an interpreter, Wilson said.

He faced issues off the field, too.

“I got bullied a lot at my old school. … I got frustrated and kind of felt like an outcast, just not happy with my life,” Wilson said.

It wasn’t until he arrived at Portage Central High School that he felt he found himself.

“Now it got better and people said, ‘You can do it,’” Wilson said. “I like this program a lot better.”

‘I’ll show you what I got’

But for Wilson to perform the way he wanted, he had to learn another hard truth.

“Ninth grade, I didn’t really play much, then JV year, it helped me learn that I have to put in more work than other people do,” Wilson said. “I can do this and I’ll show you what I got.”

And he did it with a smile on his face.

Whether it’s in the trenches of the defensive line or in the locker room dancing and singing “Cut it” by O.T. Genesis, Wilson’s energy has been a lifeline of energy for the Mustangs.

Colin Holmes, who plays on the defensive line next to Wilson, said that his presence lifts the team up when times get hard at practice or during games.

“It doesn’t really matter the day of practice… he’s just been 100 percent every day. I’ve not seen him have a bad day,” Holmes said. “It’s always good to have a senior step up and be a high-energy guy because it’s contagious.”

It’s something that coaches see in him, too.

“I don’t know if Jeffery has ever had a bad day,” Enders said. “(He’s) one of the first to roll through, whether that be in the weight room or practice. … He’s definitely a leader by example, getting the group up and going.”

That’s why when Wilson went down with an MCL injury halfway into his junior season, it was a devasting blow.

“He always tries to downplay it. When Jeffery got hurt, you could tell he was hurting and he just tried to be really brave and positive about it,” Enders said. “He always has a smile on his face and that moment you realized something was wrong, I think it hit him, it kind of hit us all at the same time.”

Life had already prepared Wilson for the moment.

“He never backs down from adversity and does a great job of finding a way to get the job done,” Enders said.

It was no surprise to anyone on the team when Wilson recovered and was ready to go for the first game of his senior year.

He’s started every game at defensive line this season.

‘Ready to go’

On the field, under the intensity and chaos of the Friday night lights, Wilson can’t hear much of anything. Sound drowns out completely.

He’s started to see it as an advantage.

As Wilson gets into his stance, he looks over to Holmes for signals.

“When we do calls during the cadence or before a play, Jeffery can’t hear those calls,” Holmes said. “We have our own little system of signs we do to each other so he understands what we’re supposed to be doing because he can’t hear the linebacker make the calls.”

He peeks at the sideline for any additional signs from Brown or Enders. Then he locks in.

Wilson is fast.

“I’m very sensitive if somebody is on the front line and pops out in front of me,” Wilson said. “I’m ready to go.”

He’s hardly ever caught offsides because he doesn’t listen to the opposing quarterback’s snap count.

He just watches the ball and goes.

‘You can do it’

Wilson’s message for anyone facing adversity like his is clear:

“No matter how many times you have negative in your life, just focus on the positives. … You can do it. I know you can. Just don’t give up on yourself. My grandma didn’t raise me to be a quitter,” Wilson said. “Deaf people can do it. Deaf people can play sports, hockey, football, lacrosse anything. … Just work hard and keep fighting.”

Senior night made Wilson reflect on some of his favorite memories.

The best of the best?

“Singing Bruno Mars, ‘Perfect The Way You Are’ with Colin (Holmes) and everyone,” Wilson said.

Holmes sees the moment as a drop in an ocean of good memories with Wilson.

From singing to dancing: “That’s just every day Jeffery,” Holmes said.

Senior night ultimately wasn’t his last game on that field, as Portage Central punched a ticket to the playoffs and hosted crosstown rival Portage Northern in the first round on Friday, Nov. 1.

And Wilson rose to the moment, making a key defensive stop that swung momentum to Portage Central.

RELATED: Second half surge fuels Portage Central’s comeback playoff win over crosstown rival

Quarterback Payton Porter capitalized on Wilson’s stop, running for a 57-yard touchdown on the next drive that gave Central a 20-12 lead.

Central advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

Wilson was swarmed by teammates and friends after the game.

“I’m feeling happy, excited, a lot of emotions,” Wilson said after the game. “I can’t wait. I’m ready for Mattawan now. Here we come.”

As Wilson entered the locker room, ‘Cut It’ started playing.

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