Senior Spotlight: Nacona Tahdooahnippah
Nacona Tahdooahnippah is a Comanche athlete. He’s related to Henry Poemoceah and AA Monetatchchi and is from the old Comanche band Noyaka.
Tahdooahnippah is number 53 on the Elgin High School Football Team and plays right guard, but can play wherever the coach needs him.
“My high school career, I've started every position, like every offensive line position, I've started to defeat a game. I've always been moving around. I kind of know every play, which way we're going to go, how to push my feet off,” he said.
Tahdooahnippah plays football, basketball, baseball and used to wrestle.
Tahdooahnippah is also in college concurrent classes. He sometimes works at the Cobble Stone Creamery in Medicine Park on the weekends.
When Tahdooahnippah steps on the field, he feels excited.
“We're like one big family and it's just fun coming out here,” he said. “It's kind of like every time I step on the court, it just walks out all the nerves. Just me and my team.”
He wants to work for NASA Aerospace.
“My mom, a couple years ago, she had took a trip to Houston, and she sent me pictures of the NASA Center, like the head NASA Center, and she sent me pictures and all that stuff like that,” he said. “I had taken a math quiz one time with her, and the picture was kind of like graphs and charts and buildings and stuff like that. She showed me what I could do, and she said you could be a pretty good opportunity to work at NASA.”
Tahdooahnippah’s motivation comes from his auntie and papa.
“Well, when my papa was here, he would always take me to every sporting event, every athletic event,” he said. “He was always there to take me, give me a ride, feed me. One big thing he always told me was a play lasts for five seconds; you can score a point if you catch five seconds, and you get a 30-second red. And then you just do it again. I always thought about that whenever we’re past the red zone. He really motivated me to just keep working no matter…how painful it is…”
Tahdooahnippah may not be continuing football in college, but he does enjoy playing just for now.
