Broken Arrow Graduate Becomes 1st Deaf Person To Win Prestigious Athletic Award

A Broken Arrow High School graduate is the first deaf person to win the Jim Thorpe Player of the Year award for boy’s tennis; a prestigious award from the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

Tyler Sams was born completely deaf. He said, thanks to his cochlear implants, he is able to live a normal life and doesn’t let his deafness define him.

“When we did all the routine tests, I came back negative on the hearing, so we found out pretty early on,” Tyler said.

Tyler was just a baby when he got his first cochlear implant. He got one at nine months old, and the second for the other ear not long after.

Tyler said growing up deaf had its share of challenges, but he said he never had many limitations when it came to sports.

“Once in a while you have that rare issue, but otherwise, everything’s been great,” said Tyler.

Whatever he lacked in hearing, he made up for in athletic ability. At six years old, he found his passion in tennis and has since worn his devices proudly on the court.

“I tried tennis and then I didn’t want to try anything else. I picked up a racket and I was like, 'this is awesome. I don’t want to stop,'" Tyler recalled.

Tyler graduated from Broken Arrow High School last spring and was a three-year letterman and team captain his senior year.

At his senior banquet, he was surprised with the prestigious statewide honor that recognizes athletes for their successes athletically and academically, and for their overall character.

“They were like 'hey, we have a special announcement, Tyler, you won Jim Thorpe Player of the Year.' And I’m like, 'wow, I didn’t know that was going to happen,' but that was nice. It just meant a lot that they all noticed me, and cared that much,” he said.

Now, Tyler is coaching middle schoolers to stay connected to the sport.

“I don’t want to give up tennis completely, so this was just a really great opportunity to help other kids who were in the same spot I was,” said Tyler.

And he has a piece of advice for any deaf athlete out there.

“If you’re a deaf athlete, you’re just as good as everyone else. I didn’t really have any issues, so they’ll be just fine too,” Tyler said.

While coaching, Tyler plans to major in computer science at Tulsa Community College.