That PSU senior defensive back Tre Kramer-Taylor would be involved in sports was never in doubt. That the native Hawaiian whose family moved to the Marshall Islands when he was three years old would end up playing football was another matter.
    
His unusual sports pedigree has seen him involved in multiple sports, almost making it to the Olympics as a competitor and living the life of a sports nomad as he climbed the ladder towards a Division I college career with the Vikings.
    
Both his parents (Melissa Kramer and Tyrone Taylor) played high school sports.  Melissa Kramer, a Majuru, Marshall Islands native, competed in volleyball and basketball nationally and represented the Islands internationally. Tyrone Taylor played basketball and competed in bodyboarding tournaments in Hawaii.  An uncle wrestled in high school in Hawaii and won gold for his weight division in the 1994 Micronesia Games.  He later became president of the Marshall Island Olympic Committee.  Other aunts and uncles supported youth sports.  An aunt is former Secretary General for the Marshall Island Basketball Federation (FIBA) and was a member of FIBA's world board…and the list goes on.
      
At age 10, he moved again when members of his family took management positions in the family business in Guam., about 1,674 miles west of the Marshall Islands.
     
This was the first step in his football odyssey, but that picks up a little later.
    
Kramer-Taylor began playing soccer in elementary school. Next came basketball, where an opposing coach noted Taylor's athleticism and suggested he take a look at football.  Along the way, he also played baseball during middle school, picked up track in high school and "my dad put me into Jiu jitsu during middle school and I continue training to this day (currently blue belt with one stripe)".
 
Tyrone Taylor had gotten to the Marshall Islands via Hawaii from Louisiana and was a big LSU fan.  Trey remembers watching the 2007 championship and just knew one day that was just what he wanted to do.  "I decided the day I watched the LSU championship game I wanted to play D-1 football.  I saw the energy, the passion.  Not only from the players and the coaches…but also from the fans…my Dad!"
     
So, when the invitation came, "I laced up cleats for the first time and walked onto a lumpy/rocky field (in Guam)…and immediately fell in love."  He would watch all the mixtapes on YouTube, trying to copy the moves.  "You could hit someone as hard as you can, and it's legal!  I just loved everything about football.  I feel like when I was born, I was just wired to love football."
 

    
In Guam, however, there was a big obstacle to his dream of playing D-1 college ball.
    
The biggest challenge at the time was just how old school it was.  "The game wasn't evolving and it was stuck in the past.  I wasn't getting proper coaching and the exposure I needed to excel.  There was no one I could turn to in terms of football trainers and people who had made it to that higher level," Taylor said.  And, had his family stayed in Majuro, he would have never been a football player.  There was no football there.   
    
So, it was time for move number four…to Hawaii, where he had relatives (eventually living with a grandmother), to St. Louis High School in Honolulu.
    
In Hawaii, "I was exposed to a caliber of athletes/coaching/training/mentality that I never would have had I stayed in Guam.  Being in Hawaii, I was exposed to wonderful trainers who helped me elevate my game to where it needed to be to have a shot at my goals," said Kramer-Taylor.
    
Another reason for moving…scouts.  "I also moved in hopes of getting in front of scouts and recruiters, because no one visited the islands (He says he's the first D-1 football player…or D-1 athlete in any sport…from the Marshall Islands)."
    
Kramer-Taylor didn't receive any D-1 offers during his high school career, which was cut a year short by COVID.  Off to community college he went.  His time there earned him PWO (preferred walk-on) offers from Morehead College (Kentucky) and PSU.
     
Oregon has the fifth-largest Marshallese population in the US, which helped him decide.
    
"Being this far away from home, I made the decision easy.  I knew having them around would make it easier for me to adapt, and I could also have people to turn to so I wouldn't feel alone here on the mainland," he said.
     
So far, his playing time at PSU has been limited, said new Special Teams Coordinator Coach Jared Gallatin. 
     
"We expect Tre to continue to do what he has done through the offseason…continue to work hard at earning a role on the field.  We anticipate that he will contribute on special teams for us and be in the mix on defense," said Gallatin. "Tre brings a vocal presence to our defensive backfield.  He's a great communicator."
     
Kramer-Taylor's progress received a setback early at PSU, and crushed an exciting opportunity to possibly represent the Marshall Islands at the Olympics (he holds dual citizenship, US and Marshall Islands).  Following a redshirt year, he fully tore his ACL at the end of spring practice.
    
"My injury impacted me emotionally in ways I have never been tested before.  Coming off the redshirt year, I felt like I had momentum going into the next season," he said.  He also had been one of three athletes selected to represent the RMI in the 100 meters for track at the Micronesia Games that summer, with the opportunity to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
    
"All that was stripped from me in an instant," he said.  But hitting that low point meant the only direction was up.  "You appreciate and celebrate the little things and grind in the moment.  Emotionally, I was invested in my dreams and did everything I could to beat the odds just like I have been doing my entire life."  And, in July 2025, he got cleared to play again.
        
Kramer-Taylor's nomadic travels in his quest for a spot in a D-1 American football program has also been a cultural experience…and a bit of a shock.
       
He moved away from home a lot, he said.  "Moving away from Majuro was hard for me as a kid.  I was leaving family and friends and everything I knew at a young age.  "Marshallese culture is one based around community and faith.  It is made up of humble and very resilient people.  There's a lot of respect for elders and the culture is very family-oriented.  They still carry on traditions of the past and we are deeply rooted in the ocean.  It's so small you know everyone.  You can find refuge and comfort with anyone you come across and that culture stays with us.  We spread the hospitality no matter where we go," he said.
 
Still, the culture in Guam, even that distance away, was similar in some respects.  It was another island and the cultures had similarities.  "The sense of community made it manageable.  It was definitely way bigger that Majuro and felt a lot different."
    
Kramer-Taylor was introduced to McDonald's and other drive-throughs and liked that.  "Eventually I met so many friends and people I call family that I also call Guam one of my homes.," he said.
    
Then, on to Hawaii.
      
At first he was excited to go to Hawaii…"I'm chasing my dreams…I'm going to a nationally-ranked school and living with Granny…what could be better.   (But) It eventually became very hard to deal with not being able to see my parents and sisters for long periods of time, not even summers or winter breaks because of my commitment to football."  Still, unlike his arrival in Guam, he had family already living in Hawaii and his grandmother lived five minutes away from the school so he soon felt at home.
    
Finally came his move to Portland to join the Vikings.
    
"Moving to Portland was definitely the biggest culture shock I've ever experienced.  It was just very different from how I grew up on the islands.  Back home, Guam, Hawaii, Majuro, everything feels more connected and community-based.  People are outside more.  Families are always around each other.  There's more warmth in the way people interact," he said.
    
Portland felt much faster paced and independent at first…and the weather….ahhh yes, the weather…that affected him too, at first, because "I grew up around sun and ocean.  It took time adjusting to the cold, the long rain and just a completely different environment and lifestyle.  But over time, I learned to appreciate the city for what it is and I've met a lot of great people."
    
A highlight of his time as a Viking was playing last season in Hawaii where he had a lot of family, including some from the Marshall Islands, in attendance.
     
Always a good student, Kramer-Taylor earned 2025 All-Big Sky academic honors and is on track to graduate this spring with a BS in Business Management and Leadership and with a certificate in Real Estate Property Development.
     
In terms of a career, the future is still out there, but he'd like to continue following his lifelong passion for football, playing or maybe coaching.  Where that will happen?  He's undecided.   "My relationship with Portland is back and forth.  I love the scenery and nature but I hate when it's cold.  I need the sun."
    
He's casting an eye back to the Marshall Islands.
   
"Start getting to know me now because even after my chapter with football closes, my athletic career is far from over.  Another door opens with the opportunity to start training and competing in Olympic events under RMI.  Stay tuned for maybe the 2028 LA Olympics," he said.
     
And, whatever his decision, Taylor's time at PSU has left an impression.
 
"It has been a lot of fun getting to know Tre and his story coming from the Marshall Islands.  I think it just goes to show why football is the greatest game there is.  You take guys like Tre, people from all different walks of life, and they become teammates who form really special bonds that last a lifetime," said Gallatin.