Robert Tally '24 Recruiting Profile

   My name is Robert Jakob Tally. I am of Native American, Hawaiian, Puerta Rican, and Icelandic descent.  Below is a brief history of my goals and obstacles I have overcome because of my strong cultural heritage and my OHANA in Hawaii (my dad, my sister Katarina Kossen, my Grandpa Bob Tally,  my adopted uncles Mike Lafeale and Malo Torres,   my coaches at Saint Louis, and my teachers at Saint Louis).

My ultimate goal in life is to become an NFL all-pro left tackle.  God has blessed me with size (now 300 lbs), strength (I can pick up and toss high school players at will), and athleticism (I can run with the fastest kids on the D line), and god has blessed me with the height and the body to continue to pursue my ultimate goal.

I have the mental toughness to conquer challenges,  I have faced many obstacles in my life and have overcome every one. I have survived living through an unbalanced mother who had substance abuse problems (she is now fully recovered, living in Lummi Nation), moving away from her to live with my father, to thriving in Hawaii. It wasn’t an easy path, but I have overcome every obstacle and continue to achieve my goals on and off the football field.  

     My first obstacle after we moved to Hawaii was very significant health scare, out of nowhere I was infected by a severe MRSA infection under my skin next to my rib cage.  I was in 8th grade and felt back pain like I had never felt before. My back pain continued for multiple more days; it got so bad my father took me to our family doctor; he said it looked like a muscle strain/bruise because it had no puncture marks or signs of infection, and I did not have a temperature, so it was not anything significant.  Later that day (as my father told me), I was babbling incoherently and had a temperature of 104.  My father rushed me to Kapoloni children's hospital, and later that evening, the Dr. said that I had a rare form of cancer and would most likely die within two weeks.  

For two days, my diagnosis was death; on the third day, they ran some more tests and found out that I had a rare, almost impossible form of MRSA between my skin and below my shoulder blade and that I would be in the hospital for six months doing treatments, this was a lot better than dying within two weeks.  Through my faith, my inner strength and positivity, I overcame almost dying from cancer, being told of a 6-month stay in the hospital ICU, being strong enough to handle medication and let out of the hospital in three weeks, and overcoming a 35-pound acute weight loss (175lbs to 140), being extremely tired, having no strength or stamina, and then became a star athlete in high school. I overcame my obstacles because I prayed and kept positive during this experience. I am now 6 ft 5 and 300 lbs

My time on the Lummi Reservation and a brief history of my tribe:

I grew up on the Lummi Nation coastal tribal lands (reservation) in the Pacific Northwest.  Our tribal fishing waters are from Seattle to Bellingham bay to Vancouver Island to the border of Canada.  Lummi Nation has always been blessed by mother nature with an abundance of seafood. 

     Lummi Nation has been a dominant tribe throughout history.  Lummi has survived generations of war with other tribes and the US government. My elders told me that Lummi made prisoners of the conquered tribes and let them choose to be a Lummi or go free.  All prisoners choose to become Lummi.  

My Indigenous, Hawaiian, and Puerta Rican Heritage:

My Mothers' heritage is Lummi, Hawaiian, and Puerta Rican; She was born in Bellingham, Washington, to Robert Tally and Vontella Revy.  Both her parents are registered Native Americans (indigenous) in the Lummi Nation.  Vontellas grandpa was full Puerta Rican according to census records and accepted as a tribal member around the 1890s.  Grandpa Bob Tally is of Hawaiian descent and Lummi descent.  He is the direct descendant of Agnes Haumea, who is 100 percent Hawaiian.  Our Elder Hae te Luk (Agnes husband) was the last true chief of our tribe. 

     My Great-Great-Great Grandpa, “Hae Tu Luk,” was the last full Chief of the Lummi Nation.  Through my elders, I was told of Agnes’s journey from Hawaii to Washington, that she was an enslaved person/cook for the ship and kidnapped by Hudson Bay Company, and the first chance she saw the land, she jumped off the slave ship and swam to shore. She met Hae Tu Luk and married the chief.  I have conquered obstacles of my family's strength because I come from the Lummi Nation (Salish people), my Viking descent, and my family I have made in Hawaii, my brotherhood at my high school, and this is my (partial) story of how I have overcome my obstacles.

Mahalo

Robert JakobTally 

Your future starting left tackle