Charles Tapper

Tapper attended public schools in Baltimore, Maryland where his mother Rhonda Tapper worked as a school principal. Tapper's father died when he was 4 and he was raised by his mom. Rhonda Tapper later adopted two other boys for whom Charles served as a role model, flying them to Oklahoma to watch him play college football.^[1]

He enrolled at Baltimore City College, where he focused on basketball, before starting to play football as a junior, only after his mother asked him to join the team or get a job.^[2] He was a two-way player as a senior, finishing with 100 tackles and five sacks on defense, while also making 10 receptions for 200 yards and five touchdowns at tight end.

Tapper accepted a football scholarship from the University of Oklahoma. As a true freshman, he appeared in 5 games. He tallied his first 2 tackles in the sixth game against the University of Kansas.

As a sophomore, he became a starter at defensive end in a 3-4 defense, starting 12 games except the tenth contest against Iowa State University. He collected 49 tackles (nine for loss), 5.5 sacks and one pass defensed. He had 5 tackles and 2 sacks against Texas Christian University. He made 6 tackles (3 for loss) and 2 sacks against the University of Kansas.

As a junior, he started all 13 games at defensive end. He registered 37 tackles (eight for loss), three sacks, two passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He had 5 tackles against the University of Texas. He made 6 tackles (1.5 for loss) against Oklahoma State University.

As a senior, he started all 13 games at defensive end. He posted 50 tackles (10 for loss), 7 sacks, 3 passes defensed, 4 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He had 8 tackles (one for loss) against West Virginia University. He made 6 tackles (2 for loss) and one sack against Baylor University. He had 6 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery against Texas Christian University.