Ellis Lankster Showed Courage Under Fire

I first came across the NFL player Ellis Lankster (CB for the Buffalo Bills) when I was on youtube doing research for my stuttering blog. At the time that I came across Ellis he was being interviewed at a press conference after a football game. After a few seconds of hearing him speak, as a person who stutters I picked up immediately that he was also a person who stutters. Eventually, most viewers within the general public also picked up on his speech impediment (stutter). I automatically empathized with Ellis as I watched him repeated whole phrases and words, as his typical of most people who stutter (although some stutterers display sound prolongation, blocking or long pauses). He could have just ended the press conference and say this is just too difficult, and I am not going to put myself through this torture and embarrassment; Ellis did not run away from his stuttering phobia. Instead he "grabbed the bull by the horn," "took the arrows as they flew towards him," "won one for the Gipper (us stutterers)," "he didn't duck;" Ellis on that video was like David who slew Goliath. Ellis display what is known as "Courage under fire."



Many viewers on the internet ridiculed Ellis Lankster for his speech impediment they called him "dumb," they called him "stupid," and other demeaning adjectives were used. Unfortunately, there are lots of folks within the general public who are still ignorant about the nature of stuttering and that is why I am so motivated to tell the story of stuttering.

Please take a few minutes to listen to the video where Ellis Lankster displayed his COURAGE UNDER FIRE. Please leave a comment. Thank you.


http://www.jokeroo.com/video/funny/stuttering-nfl-interview.html