Demarico Young is the only active deaf player in college football. Fortunately, Simpson College running back reached an agreement with his school of two years that allowed him to withdraw from the transfer portal.
He was initially denied access to his longtime ASL interpreter, which forced him to consider leaving.
In the end, the Division III college football star got what he needed. Young will play for the Storm in 2026!
Demarico Young is deaf.
At 5-foot-5, 160 pounds, Demarico Young hails from Sioux City, Iowa. He starred at North High School as a multi-sport athlete before he began his college football career at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. The Storm competes on the Division III level of NCAA competition. It is a member of the American Rivers Conference.
Not only is Young a phenomenal athlete, he is also an inspiration. The rising junior running back contracted spinal meningitis as an infant, which left him deaf from a very young age. Even if it is a big part of his story, his disability does not define him.
Young had a strong freshman season at Simpson. His sophomore year was even better. He went for 1,019 yards and six touchdowns on 169 carries as the best running back in Division III last season. Defenses cannot bring him down.
Simpson College RB Demarico Young (@demarico_young) had a breakout season in 2025 for the Storm, earning All-ARC Honorable Mention honors.
— Bryan (@RealBGauvin23) March 19, 2026
The Sioux City, Iowa native carried the rock 169 times for 1,019 yards and 6 TDs on the year.
I am excited to see what he does in year… pic.twitter.com/3zh9O8b2ub
There is a lot hype about the Storm in 2026 because of its running back. Young is poised for another strong year.
However, there was a full month where it looked like he was going to play elsewhere.
Simpson College was able to reach an agreement with the running back’s American Sign Language interpreter.
Demarico Young was pulled into meetings with members of the Simpson College administration during the week of July 12. They told him that his longtime interpreter of five years would not longer be allowed to work with him on campus outside of football.
That wasn’t going to work.
It was not feasible for Young’s interpreter to be employed by Simpson only for football. She moved from Nebraska to Indianola to be with him. She could not only work with the football team. And even if it was, Young wanted her to be with him for everything.
“For five years, we built a communication partnership that allowed me to succeed in the classroom, on the football field, in meetings with trainers, coaches and throughout campus life,” Young said at the time. “For deaf students with specialized needs, an interpreter is not typically interchangeable without months, sometimes years of a transition process.”
Therefore, the Storm’s star running back entered the transfer portal. He considered all of his options, spoke with multiple programs all cross the country (some Division I!) and took multiple campus visits.
Meanwhile, he continued to fight for his interpreter at Simpson. And in the end, the school reached an agreement with Young and his interpreter that allowed them both to stay. Demarico Young withdrew from the transfer portal on Aug. 13.
Savannah Richardson of The Simpsonian did a great feature on the process that played out over the last month or so. Young wanted to stay at Simpson but the college forced him to seek a new opportunity elsewhere if he wanted to keep working with his longtime interpreter. He kept pressure on the school. Simpson ultimately gave him what he needed to run it back in 2026.