photo via @GallaudetBison

Football fields are filled with noise, from the sounds of fans cheering, whistles blowing, coaches and players yelling out plays. The silence of a football field may be unnatural to some, but for players at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., it is their reality.

Gallaudet is a private school for the deaf and partially deaf, and their football team, which they refer to as “America’s deaf team,” is a collaboration of players who are deaf or partially deaf and players who can hear.

Coaches and players communicate with one another by using ASL, or American Sign Language.

Coach Chuck Goldstein, his coaching staff, and the Gallaudet Bison players have found a system that works for them.

Wide receiver L.J. Watson told CBS News, "You can't hear the snap count?" adding "We just, like, watch the football. The quarterback, he taps the center and we just go, when the football snaps."

About 12 percent of Gallaudet students can hear, and teammate Daequan Taylor, who is partially deaf, said, "So, how I fell in love on my visit, it was like deaf people, they knew I couldn't sign, but they still accepted me," Taylor said.

While teammates admit adjusting to playing the game a different way has its challenges, they have found a way to make it work, and allow them to play a game they love. 

“I like to think that over the years we’ve built not just a successful program but also a respectable one,” Goldstein said. “We’ve been to the top, and now we’re building back up again. We’re teaching our kids to do things the right way, and I think we’ve earned everyone’s respect."

WATCH: Teamwork at @GallaudetU transcends the field for "America's deaf team" (More at https://t.co/VwWYcWc9uA) #AMorePerfectUnion pic.twitter.com/dS3ocFZNn8

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) November 16, 2017

RELATED: Captains introduce themselves to deaf opponents via sign language

 

This blog includes updated information from a previous USA Football blog that published Jan. 4, 2016