Deafness and the NFL

A few minutes ago, I was watching a college football game. One of the oddest plays I have ever seen happened. A scrambling quarterback had his elbow hit by the helmet of a defensive player, causing him to fumble forward. Many players on both sides of the ball thought it was an incomplete pass, and therefore dead. An offensive player picked it up and stood still for a moment, when a defensive player ripped the ball from his hand and ran it in for a touchdown. The key here is that one player had a distinct advantage over the the other. The offensive player who picked the ball up was deaf. He assumed (wrongly) that the whistle had been blown and the play was dead. The defensive player was hearing, and did not hear a whistle, so he continued playing. Why would the NFL and other pro sports ignore the needs of a deaf athlete?
To steal a line from a friend: Think about it.