If you happened to tune in to ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, you would have seen a 12-year-old Tanner Nguyen quarterbacking his flag football team, the Round Rock Falcons, at Sun Life Stadium, home to the National Football League’s (NFL) Miami Dolphins, just hours before the NFL’s best took that same field to compete in the annual Pro Bowl.
While playing at Sun Life Stadium is certainly a high in the career of Nguyen, the senior quarterback has been playing football since fourth grade. When he was younger, Nguyen covered the offensive side as a quarterback and on the defensive side as a safety.
In only his second year removed from his hometown of Round Rock, Texas, Tanner has had a breakout year for the Dons this season as one Peninusla Athletic League (PAL) Bay division’s premier signal-caller.
This fall, Nguyen led the team to the California Interscholastic Federation- Central Coast Section (CIF CCS) quarterfinals. Unfortunately, they fell the Chieftains of Palma High School, 45-24. However, despite the loss, Tanner consistently put up astounding numbers throughout the season. On 183 completions out of 308 attempts, Tanner threw for 2,677 yards and 17 touchdowns, with only four interceptions. Nguyen’s successful emergence into the spotlight helped lead the Dons to a 5-6 record, beginning the season on a four-game winning streak.
Despite his deep career, Nguyen still feels that his greatest on-field moment was “the first touchdown I ever threw playing football for Aragon [against Carlmont in the Dons’ eventual 33-0 on Sept. 4]”.
From the second that the game clock started ticking on Sept. 4 against Carlmont to the sound of the final horn on Nov. 20 against Palma, Nguyen not only emerged into the spotlight, but did so successfully, grabbing the attention of many teams all across the Peninsula. However, despite being a leader on the team and major source of points, Nguyen was quick to give others credit for their contributions, making sure that the spotlight is not only shining on him.
Says the star quarterback on how he’s had the success he did, “I think [head coach Steve] Sell has a lot to do with it. He’s a great coach, and I’ve had a good supporting cast, too, with my team. I have a great team. We have good receivers, a good [offensive] line, and our defense gets us the ball”.
Along with his teammates, Tanner’s family has played a vital role in the quarterback’s success this season.
Every Friday, Tanner’s sister, Taylin, a sophomore at Aragon, comes to school covered in red and black — and that is not limited only to clothes. On game days, students can spot her coated with red and black face paint on her face, arms, and legs.
“She definitely gives me and the team great support, as you’ve seen her face painted every Friday,” says Tanner.
In addition, his dad is a coach for the football team, and according to Tanner, has “taught me everything.”
Tanner’s mom and younger sister can also be found in the stands every game.”
While most of Aragon knows Tanner primarily as the star quarterback of the football team, he is much more than that.
Says his sister, “[Tanner] is basically a silly kid at heart. He loves to wear his giraffe slippers and his favorite meal consists of two Totino’s pizzas.”
However, Tanner can also be very serious and hardworking, as Taylin describes how “his nickname at home is ‘Planner Tanner.’ He is very efficient, smart, dedicated and a ‘check-off-list’ kind of guy. He is very structured and disciplined, especially when it comes to homework, [memorizing the] playbook, workouts, and family and friend time”.
These traits are exactly what he hopes will get him to the next level with college on the horizon.
He hopes to get accepted into Brigham Young University (BYU), a Mormon school, his “dream school since [he] was a kid. That’s where I really want to go.”
However, going to BYU could mean the end of Tanner’s football career. The Cougars have been in and out of the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 College Football rankings, and currently have four quarterbacks on their roster, all of whom are eligible to return to the team next year, making it highly unlikely that Nguyen would play a significant role — if any — on the team. However, that has not deterred him one bit.
Says Tanner on his chances of playing for BYU, “I might try and walk on. I would love to play football at the college level. But I think academics may be my priority”.
At BYU, Tanner hopes to major in industrial design. His underlying determination to become a BYU Cougar is due to his religion.
“I think a lot of people don’t know that I’m LDS, I’m a Mormon,” says Tanner. “It comes with a lot expectations that a lot of people may or may not know about me.”
No matter what the future holds for Tanner, he has had an immensely successful career throughout his two short years as a Don. Whether he becomes a star quarterback at BYU on top his studies in industrial design, one thing is for sure — his legacy will forever be cemented with the red and black.
