Clemson LB Wade Woodaz says he was born deaf, still struggles on gamedays

Woodaz goes airborne to make a tackle against Virginia last season (Photo by Merrell Mann).

David Hood · Senior Writer · Tuesday, June 24 2025

CLEMSON – Wade Woodaz is listed as one of top returning linebackers in the nation this season, and his position coach, Ben Boulware, thinks Woodaz is a rising star. That much we know. What we didn’t know is that Woodaz was born deaf and still struggles with his hearing.

Woodaz is a defensive weapon whose versatility has led to his usage at both linebacker and safety, and he enters 2025 credited with 140 tackles (21.5 for loss), 8.5 sacks, nine pass breakups, three interceptions (including one returned for a touchdown), four forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt in 1,244 snaps from scrimmage over 39 games (18 starts) since his arrival in 2022.

His head coach, Dabo Swinney, says he loves to watch Woodaz play.

“He’s a baller,” Swinney said. “He’s a fun guy to coach and a fun guy to watch play because he plays the way you want everybody to play.”

On a recent episode of the Two Right Turns podcast, Woodaz appeared alongside fellow linebacker Sammy Brown, and they were both asked if they had a hidden talent. Brown said he can do a backflip, but Woodaz brought up something a little more serious.

“No, people really actually don't know this,” Woodaz said. “I was born deaf, I couldn't hear.”

He was asked if he had a cochlear implant, and he said no and that his parents didn’t find out until his eighth month.

“So, I was eight months old and I went to do the checkup you do when you're a baby, the hearing test,” Woodaz said. “Yeah, and I guess I didn't give a response, so they did a couple more tests and they told my parents, they're like, yeah, he's deaf.”

A simple procedure helped alleviate the issue somewhat.

“I had to get tubes put in my ears. I don't really know how I can hear honestly, but I know I had tubes put in my ears and now I can hear.”

Woodaz missed two games last season and still fashioned his best year on campus.

Despite missing those two games and playing alongside All-American Barrett Carter, he was credited with a team-high 89 tackles (10.0 for loss), three sacks, six pass breakups, three forced fumbles, and an interception in 707 defensive snaps over 12 games (all starts). He garnered first-team All-ACC honors from Sports Info Solutions and earned second-team All-ACC recognition from Phil Steele, becoming the first Clemson player credited with at least 75 tackles and at least three forced fumbles since Isaiah Simmons in 2018.

However, his hearing issues haven’t completely gone away.

“I still struggle with it though,” he said. “I'm not going to lie, when there's background noise, I'm trying to read lips in the locker room when music is blaring.”

Woodaz said he has to read lips on game days, but going to sleep is easy and doesn’t have an issue with waking up.

“It is nice when I try to go to sleep, though, because I can't really hear anything,” Woodaz said. “I'd say I wake up pretty easy, I wake up on the first ring just because my body is used to it. I don’t have any special alarms or anything.”