Takeda Okura was born in Osaka, Japan on July 16th, 2000. In a small family of three, he was an only child, and told by his father that he was bound for great things. His father strictly forced him to play a variety of sports. However, neither him, his mother, or his father were very athletic. It was his father’s dream for the family to have a good athlete, after his failed basketball career. However, Takeda was a natural born student, always at the top of his class in academics. He struggled physically, and hated all the sports that were presented to him by his father. Eventually a game finally caught his own eye, one where he wouldn’t have to be athletic to be successful at. By profusely studying formations, zone coverages, and optimal positions of where to be on the field at all times, Takeda Okura became the starting Safety on his team’s American Football team, the Flying Hedgehogs. Surrounded by stronger players, Takeda initially struggled with the competition. The Flying Hedgehogs only ended in his Sophomore season at 1-10. However, during that summer, Takeda hit a growth spurt, growing 11 inches in only three months. Now at a towering 6 foot 1, and a rigorous workout schedule, Takeda was both an above average athlete and an extremely studious player. In his Junior year, he had to recalculate all his spreadsheets on where to be, as now he could sprint to anywhere on the field faster than anyone else on the team.
The Hedgehogs had a dominant defense, lead by of course, Takeda. He ended the year with thirty interceptions, including sixteen of them for td’s. His ball hawking was unparalleled, especially in Japan. But after his senior year, where he produced another ridiculous statline of thirty-four interceptions, fifty-seven deflected passes and eighty-two tackles, Takeda finally had to play against real players at college.
Having achieved cult status in Japan, including a few viral videos where crowds of fans would come to watch a seventeen year old Okura make ridiculous plays and scream like crazy in reaction. These popular videos caught the eye of Oregon State University Coach John Meyers, who noticed his innate talent and offered him a scholarship against the president’s wishes. He’d said, “God damn it president Wilson, this kid can play! I’ll take full responsibility if he can’t, but his speed and talent is flat out ridiculous.” Well, it was certainly a risk worth taking. In his four years with OSU, Takeda led one of the best defenses in the league. While not capturing the same insane stats of his high-school years, he obtained a career total of 110 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 11 interceptions, 18 deflected passes and 2 forced fumbles, including a fumble recovery for a game winning touchdown that led to a 10-7 victory against UCLA. That same UCLA game allowed him to take part in the only bowl game of his career, the Hawaii bowl. In it, he recorded two interceptions, though still came up short, losing to the Boise State Broncos 3-13. Despite his best efforts, the OSU offense was far too terrible for his team to achieve any success. They were so devoid of talent that Takeda would occasionally be forced into a kick or punt returning role, as being the best athlete on the team.
The OSU defense was hailed as a “no fly zone” by other teams. Ranked fourth in the country in yards allowed, and second in pass yards allowed, it was a terrifying beast to play against.
Spending only two years in college, he graduated with a master’s degree in statistics. Now age 19, Takeda Okura has decided to declare for the DSFL draft. It was his father’s dream to have a star athlete, and hopefully it will be granted on July 1st.
The Hedgehogs had a dominant defense, lead by of course, Takeda. He ended the year with thirty interceptions, including sixteen of them for td’s. His ball hawking was unparalleled, especially in Japan. But after his senior year, where he produced another ridiculous statline of thirty-four interceptions, fifty-seven deflected passes and eighty-two tackles, Takeda finally had to play against real players at college.
Having achieved cult status in Japan, including a few viral videos where crowds of fans would come to watch a seventeen year old Okura make ridiculous plays and scream like crazy in reaction. These popular videos caught the eye of Oregon State University Coach John Meyers, who noticed his innate talent and offered him a scholarship against the president’s wishes. He’d said, “God damn it president Wilson, this kid can play! I’ll take full responsibility if he can’t, but his speed and talent is flat out ridiculous.” Well, it was certainly a risk worth taking. In his four years with OSU, Takeda led one of the best defenses in the league. While not capturing the same insane stats of his high-school years, he obtained a career total of 110 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 11 interceptions, 18 deflected passes and 2 forced fumbles, including a fumble recovery for a game winning touchdown that led to a 10-7 victory against UCLA. That same UCLA game allowed him to take part in the only bowl game of his career, the Hawaii bowl. In it, he recorded two interceptions, though still came up short, losing to the Boise State Broncos 3-13. Despite his best efforts, the OSU offense was far too terrible for his team to achieve any success. They were so devoid of talent that Takeda would occasionally be forced into a kick or punt returning role, as being the best athlete on the team.
The OSU defense was hailed as a “no fly zone” by other teams. Ranked fourth in the country in yards allowed, and second in pass yards allowed, it was a terrifying beast to play against.
Spending only two years in college, he graduated with a master’s degree in statistics. Now age 19, Takeda Okura has decided to declare for the DSFL draft. It was his father’s dream to have a star athlete, and hopefully it will be granted on July 1st.
Takeda Okura
