In this chap­ter titled “Fame,” the nar­ra­tive chron­i­cles the remark­able suc­cess of the Cal­i­for­nia School for the Deaf, River­side (CSDR) Cubs foot­ball team, who con­tin­ued their win­ning streak into Octo­ber, cap­ti­vat­ing the deaf com­mu­ni­ty of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia. Notable play­er Phillip Cas­tane­da shone in a game against Desert Chapel, scor­ing four touch­downs and achiev­ing 232 yards, demon­strat­ing his impres­sive skill on the field after a chal­leng­ing per­son­al jour­ney.

Amidst this suc­cess, alum­ni returned to sup­port their team, rem­i­nisc­ing about their own expe­ri­ences and the long-over­due recog­ni­tion for the school. Coach­es, for­mer play­ers, and fam­i­ly members—many deaf themselves—expressed how play­ing for the Cubs trans­formed their lives, par­tic­u­lar­ly high­light­ing changes in con­fi­dence and hap­pi­ness. Jere­mias Valen­cia, a for­mer bas­ket­ball record hold­er and father of stand­out wide receiv­er Jory Valen­cia, shared his family’s lega­cy of over­com­ing adver­si­ty, includ­ing their migra­tion from south­ern Ari­zona to River­side for bet­ter oppor­tu­ni­ties. Jory proved to be an asset on the field, demon­strat­ing remark­able ath­leti­cism and resilience.

As the Cubs approached a game against Desert Chris­t­ian, with a record of 10–0, excite­ment soared. A jour­nal­ist cov­er­ing the sto­ry wit­nessed the unique vibes at CSDR, where tra­di­tion­al game envi­ron­ments were replaced by signed com­mu­ni­ca­tion among play­ers and spec­ta­tors. Under­stand­ing the chal­lenges faced due to their mar­gin­al­ized con­text, CSDR’s vic­to­ries began to gain nation­al atten­tion, cul­mi­nat­ing in an arti­cle about their jour­ney that went viral.

Media requests flood­ed in, fea­tur­ing notable out­lets like NBC and ABC, while Dis­ney con­sid­ered pro­duc­ing a doc­u­men­tary. This new­found fame brought about sig­nif­i­cant oppor­tu­ni­ties, includ­ing an invi­ta­tion to par­tic­i­pate in the Super Bowl coin toss and recog­ni­tion for Coach Kei­th Adams as coach of the year. How­ev­er, the rapid rise in atten­tion pre­sent­ed chal­lenges, par­tic­u­lar­ly for play­ers like shy Trevin Adams, who strug­gled with the spot­light.

The nar­ra­tive high­lights how the Cubs’ achieve­ments have ini­ti­at­ed dis­cus­sions on deaf­ness and inclu­sion, serv­ing as an inspi­ra­tion for over­com­ing adver­si­ty. As CSDR pre­pares to expand its facil­i­ties with sub­stan­tial fund­ing from the state, the team has cap­tured nation­al atten­tion, sym­bol­iz­ing hope and resilience for the deaf com­mu­ni­ty.