For what seems like forever, when it comes to sports, Pine Ridge has been known for basketball. It’s not just a popular sport on the reservation, it’s THE sport. But during this year’s NFL draft, Pine Ridge native Teton Saltes has hopes of hearing his name called as he pursues a professional career in football.
“I grew up playing basketball my whole life. My father, my mother, my brother all played Division 1 basketball. I always thought I was going to be the basketball player too,” Saltes described. “Basketball is king here on the reservation.”
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So how did he get involved with football? After all, it’s not every day that you hear about a high-profile Pine Ridge football player.
“I had gotten bored waiting for basketball season to come. The football staff at my high school, they’d been coming after me since I was a freshman, I was 6’3” – 6’4” back then,” explained Saltes. “They kept hounding me and hounding me, and finally my junior year, I was like, ‘alright, let’s give it a shot.’ I had no intentions of going far in football or playing Division 1 or college football – just wanted to play because I was bored.”
After his junior season of football, college scouts began reaching out. It started with just a couple, but then more calls began to trickle in.
“My phone started ringing. I looked down, and picked it up and I was like ‘Hello?’ He said, ‘Yeah, this is Rocky Long, head coach at San Diego State.’ I was like, ‘whoa, that’s pretty cool.’ Then after that, Oregon started calling, and Baylor, and Washington, and Texas A&M,” said Saltes. “It just started rolling, and out of nowhere, I became one of the top recruits in the country for defense.”
Saltes chose the University of New Mexico to be his home for his college football career. He spent his freshman year as a defensive end but moved to offensive line going into his sophomore season, because the team was desperate for some help on the offensive front.
“I think it was three or four offensive tackles quit the team. They didn’t have anybody to fill the roles, and so they came up to me,” said Saltes. “It was supposed to be temporary, I wanted to do it, help the team out. Then four years later here we are preparing for the NFL Draft as an offensive lineman. It’s crazy how things happened.”
From Pine Ridge to a National Football League hopeful, it’s been quite a journey for Teton Saltes. He’s also proof that, regardless of what the speculation might be about living on the Pine Ridge Reservation, there are plenty of good things too.
“We hear a lot of negative statistics about Pine Ridge, and poverty rates, and suicide, and there absolutely is that. But for me, I loved growing up in Pine Ridge, it’s my home, it’s always going to be my home. I have so many fond, beautiful memories of growing up here. The land is so beautiful, people here are so kind and generous,” explained Saltes, who also wants to encourage kids to follow their dreams. “We’re more powerful than we’re told or that we’re made out to be. A lot of times, adults will tell us that we’re just kids, or we’re just young people, and we can’t do this, or can’t do that. That’s not true at all. It’s absolutely and totally up to us how far we go and where we finish in life.”
The National Football League draft is scheduled for April 29 – May 1. If Saltes does hear his name called, he’ll begin spring and summer offseason programs with his new team in the near future.
