Dekalb County

Tigers Defensive Lineman Denson Excels Despite Hearing Impairment

DeKalb County defensive lineman Dylan Denson is not your typical two-time Region 3-4A all region first team player and 2019 Region 3-4A Defensive lineman of the year.

Denson has progressive hearing loss which causes him to have to wear hearing aids.

“My hearing has gotten a lot worse since I was younger as a kid,” Denson said. “I really rely on my hearing aids. I like to not think about it and not let it affect me.”

Denson was born with progressive hearing loss. Denson was diagnosed when he was two years old when his mother realized he would not respond when she would call him.

“I don’t whine about it,” Denson said. “I get frustrated about it but I keep it to myself. I don’t want people to look at me and feel bad for me for that. I mostly just use it for motivation.”

Over the past two football seasons Denson racked up 123.5 total tackles, 25 tackles for loss, three and a half sacks, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, and three batted balls.

“I learned that I had to work harder than anyone else if I wanted to play and start,” Denson said. “Isaac Cross really pushed me to be better. We have been competing all four years. I decided I wanted to compete with him to make myself better. He pushed me further than any of my other teammates did. He believed in me more than my other teammates did and I used that as my motivation to keep working harder and harder.”

The DeKalb County Tigers went further in the Class 4A state playoffs than any other team in school history. The Tigers also went undefeated in games played at home this season also.

“When we got to the playoffs we knew we had to work our butts off,” Denson said. “When we made it to the third round it was one of the most satisfying things I have ever experienced. It felt great not to lose a game at home. It was a great accomplishment.”

Denson admitted there were plenty of difficulties throughout his football career and his inability to hear.

“Sometimes I couldn’t get the call because the band would be playing and I couldn’t hear,” Denson said. “I would usually get the call from Cross or Ethan Jones they were both beside me. When teams ran fast paced offenses it was a lot harder for me because I usually relied on our mike linebacker to tell me the plays. I started to learn the hand signals on my own from looking at coach Cagel and that helped a lot.”

Denson has started for DeKalb County since he has been a sophomore and he has been a staple of DeKalb County’s front seven for three years according to head coach Steve Trapp.

“He was a dagum good players for us,” Trapp said. “Try to imagine playing football when you can’t hear like everybody else. He could have played linebacker or defensive end for us but we played him at nose guard because he was right there on top of the ball. We found that would be the best spot for him and our team because as soon as that ball moves he takes off.”

Denson graduates this spring and plans to use the Tennessee promise to go to community college for free for his first two years of school. Denson intends to major in physical education with plans of becoming a P.E. teacher.

“I feel like I understand the parts of the body and how everything’s supposed to work together,” Denson said. “I think I would really enjoy a career like that.”

DeKalb County’s Dylan Denson is the Legacy Award recipient for November 2019, and now a qualifier for a $1,000 scholarship presented by Legacy XI of Cookeville.


UCSportsNation.Com proudly joins with the Legacy XI Foundation to honor senior athletes across our region who exemplify that Legacy Of Excellence. Each month, we bring you the story of one local athlete who represents the tradition of Heather Kernell Prince. The Legacy XI Foundation celebrates the role of education in the Upper Cumberland and what Heather Prince meant to so many in our community. The Legacy XI Foundation will award one monthly Legacy Of Excellence winner a $1,000 scholarship at the end of the school year so they may continue their education in honor of Heather Kernell Prince.

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