Owasso’s Football Star: Tajh Overton

By Olivia Kerber

Picture of Tajh Overton taken by Emily Hill

Tajh Overton, a junior at Owasso High School, is the number 1 football recruit in the state of Oklahoma. His aptitude when it comes to his position, defensive tackle, is remarkable—so much so that Overton has 26 Division 1 offers. On top of this, Overton ranks in ESPN’s top 300 football recruit list. 

Overton has always lived in Green Country, and it is here where the inception of his football career began. Despite being considerably smaller than his size now, the younger version of Overton loved playing on the defensive line just as much. 

“[I started] playing football in the third grade … I always played d-line. I had a team in Tulsa [when I was younger], then I moved to Glenpool, and then I came here Freshman year.”

However, Overton’s athleticism early on branched off into more facets than just football. 

“I did taekwondo when I was little, [and my belt] was like green with a blue stripe.”

This dual-sport athleticism allowed Overton to develop his strength and agility as a football player. Although Overton had consistently played football throughout his life, he didn’t truly know he was great at the game—that is, until he came to Owasso to play. 

“I always knew I was good, but I didn’t know I was really good until my sophomore year. I just had a lot of tackles,” Overton explained.

While offers have continued to roll in for Overton, getting these offers didn’t start all that long ago for him. Tajh isn’t even a senior yet, and he started getting attention from colleges only this last school year. In fact, the very first football offer Tajh got was a full-ride scholarship to a Division 1 school. 

“My first offer was from OSU (Oklahoma State University)—it was my sophomore year. [When you get offers] just depends—you could really start them in eighth grade—but most people get theirs around junior year. I probably got most of my [offers] sophomore year [though].”

Now, Overton has narrowed his list down to six schools—University of Miami, Louisiana State University, University of Mississippi, Florida State University, University of Oklahoma, and University of Tennessee. All of these schools are a part of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, the top subdivision of D1 football. These schools are limited to 85 full-ride scholarships—and since Overton has received a full-ride from every single one of these universities, his talent is beyond apparent. 

Whether Overton decides to stay in Oklahoma or attend a university over a thousand miles away, one thing will stay the same: his passion for football, and the thrill he gets from playing it. 

Overton expresses, “[I’m] the most excited about the big games.”

Everyone who attends Owasso High School knows how exhilarating the “big game” for our football team is. When I simply watch Owasso Football play Bixby’s team my heart is racing with a mix of excitement and anxiety—I cannot even begin to imagine how it must feel to play in those games. Now take that intensity, and multiply it by ten. That is how it will feel to play in a stadium full of tens of thousands of people against your rival school. 

Frankly, Overton is an inspiration to many people at our school. He is the combination of hard work and skill that we should all strive to be. Owasso High School is lucky to have seen Overton play for the last couple of years, but OHS is even more lucky to have one more season to watch him succeed playing for our own football team.