Early experiences aid LeFors under center

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Stefan LeFors grew up deciphering body language and expressing himself without words.

The Louisville quarterback doesn’t remember when he realized much of his family, including his parents, were deaf. By the time he did, communicating with hand signals had become second nature — he was adept at it by the time he was 5.

Now, when his parents see him motioning to the sidelines during a game, they joke that he’s trying to strike up a conversation.

“They try to guess what I’m trying to say,” he said. “They laugh when they see me doing that.”

Barely recruited out of high school, LeFors has developed into the top-rated passer in the country while leading No. 14 Louisville (6-1, 3-0 Conference USA) to a place among the nation’s best teams.

Louisville was the only school that offered LeFors a football scholarship.

“I always knew I could play,” said the left-hander from Baton Rouge, La. “It was all about getting the opportunity. I was very lucky to get into a program like this.”

Not long after he learned how to run, LeFors was playing football in the backyard with his father and older brother, the way many future stars were introduced to the game.

The big difference was that LeFors’ father and brother are deaf. So are his paternal grandparents and three of his uncles. Larry LeFors, Stefan’s father, was born deaf like his parents. Stefan’s mother, Susan, became deaf as a child after having the mumps. His brother, Eric, also went deaf after having the mumps.

Eye contact was vital in the LeFors household, and the quarterback said that might explain his skill at reading defenses.

“I learned to communicate with my eyes from a young age, learning to pick things up,” he said. “Maybe a guy from a normal hearing family wouldn’t pick that up.”

Mentored by his brother, who set national records at the Louisiana School for the Deaf, LeFors put up big numbers at Christian Life Academy. But no top-tier programs showed any interest, not even nearby LSU.

Larry LeFors scrambled to put together a highlight film of his son and sent it out to more than a dozen schools, “from Hawaii to East Carolina,” Stefan remembers.

When Stefan called to make sure his tapes had arrived, virtually every school told him, “We’ll call you back.”

Even Louisville.

“I was just waiting, waiting, waiting,” he said. “At times, I got frustrated, not thinking anything was going to happen. I was ready to just try and walk on at Louisiana-Lafayette.

“But good things ended up happening.”

Former University of Idaho quarterback Scott Linehan, Louisville’s offensive coordinator at the time, called and told LeFors he and the coaches liked what they saw on the tape.

“Coach Linehan asked if I wanted to be a Cardinal and that was it,” LeFors said.

“If I could have it either way, I’d rather still be an unknown, in the shadows,” LeFors said. “… I would much rather win a game than go 20 for 20 and lose.”