Redskins’ Manley Tells Senators of Graduating Despite Illiteracy

Football star Dexter Manley told a Senate panel today that he has finally overcome childhood rejection and gained self-respect since seeking help three years ago to learn to read and write.

Manley, a defensive end for the Washington Redskins, graduated from Houston schools and Oklahoma State University despite a severe learning disability that effectively rendered him illiterate.

He enrolled in night classes at Washington’s Lab School three years ago after seeing teammate Joe Theismann felled by a broken leg during a game against the New York Giants.

“I was saying, I hope to God this never happens to me because what would I do?” Manley told Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.), chairman of the Senate education subcommittee.

Manley, 30, was judged to have a second-grade reading level when he entered the Lab School. He was found to have an auditory channel problem that makes it difficult for him to remember what he hears, particularly rote material like the sounds that letters make.

Manley brought with him a written statement, but with all eyes on him in a hearing room packed with spectators and television cameras, he began to stumble from the first sentence. Sweat rolled down his cheeks and tears of frustration filled his eyes by the time he had reached the second paragraph.

“Just tell your story, how it came about, . . .” Simon told Manley. “This takes more courage than anything you’ve done on the football field.”

Manley said his special education in elementary school consisted of “more or less playing with blocks” with no instruction in phonics or other skills needed to read.