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Young hearing-impaired fan pens letter to Seahawks player Derrick Coleman

SEATTLE, Wash. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- An inspiring letter that a young, hearing-impaired fan wrote to Seattle Seahawks' player Derrick Coleman has gone viral, and on Wednesday, he responded.

Coleman is the first legally deaf offensive player in the NFL. After watching him discuss his journey making it to the NFL in a commercial, 9-year-old Riley Kovalcik, of New Jersey, wrote him a letter, which her dad tweeted to the football star.

"I know how you feel. I also have hearing aids," she wrote. "I have faif [sic] in you Derrick."

Riley, who wears two hearing aids, also has a twin sister who has one hearing aid. Their father tweeted a picture of the letter to Coleman, adding that he had "inspired my little girls in a way I never could." The tweet went viral, and more than 2,000 Twitter accounts retweeted the image, including the Seahawks' official account.

On Wednesday, Coleman responded to Riley with a letter of his own.

"I want you to know that I always try my best in everything I do and have faith in you & your twin sister too," he wrote. He also invited her and her family to play sports with him if they ever found themselves in Seattle.

Coleman will be playing with the Seahawks in the Super Bowl on Feb. 2.