Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman has become one of the most inspirational athletes as the first deaf offensive player to ever play in the NFL. Last week, Duracell released an incredible commercial about his back story that continues to resonate with many fans.

Tuesday, 9-year-old Riley Kovalcik, who also has a hearing impairment wrote Coleman a letter and her father shared it on Twitter.

Wednesday, Coleman responded.

@JakeIsMobile Your girls are awesome! Read them my letter back when you can! Thank you for the support! Means a lot! pic.twitter.com/9x5tQQwNbk — Derrick Coleman Jr (@DC2forlife) January 22, 2014

The letter says:

Dear Miss Kovalcik, Thanks for the letter! Really was great hearing from a friend who I have so much in common with. I appreciate you rooting for the Seahawks and me and hope you continue to do so when we play in the Super Bowl!!! I want you to know that I always try my best in everything I do and have faith in you and your twin sister too. Even though we wear hearing aids, we can still accomplish our goals and dreams! If you or your family ever in Seattle, I hope we can all get together and play some sports or games! Take care, Derrick L. Coleman Jr.

Riley and her identical twin sister Erin, who is also deaf, were interviewed via Skype on Good Morning America Wednesday morning.

“I like that he actually can understand about being bullied and he actually knows more you know, stuff like if you have problems, he’s a guy you can come to,” Riley said.

Riley and Erin’s dad, Jake, said he wanted to tweet his daughter’s letter to Coleman because he was thrilled his daughters had a a hearing-impaired person in the spotlight they could look up to.