UPDATE: Oklahoma State Football Coach Mike Gundy Under Fire for Wearing an OAN Shirt: ‘You’re Special Dumb’
Image of OSU head coach Mike Gundy (right), via Kyle Boone, CBSSports.
Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy unleashed a torrent of online outrage — including from his team’s star running back — over an image of him wearing an One American News Network T-shirt during a recent fishing trip.
The furor began when CBS Sports writer Kyle Boone tweeted out a photo of a mulleted Gundy posing in front of his striped bass haul from a fishing trip on Lake Texoma, OAN’s logo on his white T-shirt.
Mike Gundy went fishing on Lake Texoma donning an OAN t-shirt pic.twitter.com/gq9c2I6HGl
— Kyle Boone @ ? (@Kyle__Boone) June 15, 2020
Some added context to this: Gundy in the past has praised OAN for its reporting. He said this of the network in April via @jacobunruh https://t.co/8mVXiXDYQH pic.twitter.com/4FtJK94CWN
— Kyle Boone @ ? (@Kyle__Boone) June 15, 2020
The fledgling conservative cable network, which Gundy called “so refreshing” in April, has drawn attention for being unapologetically pro-Trump and was blasted recently after the president cited a baseless conspiracy aired by the network speculating that a 75-year-old man who was forcibly knocked to the ground by Buffalo police was part of Antifa. One OAN commentator has even clammed Black Lives Matter as a “farce” and rhetorically asked if the movement’s goals were to “kill cops because they’re white” and “to be above the law because of your skin color.”
It seems a lot of you don’t quite understand why a major college football coach promoting OAN is a problem.
OAN says Black Lives Matter is “a farce.” pic.twitter.com/ZcQ0Y65uMj
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 15, 2020
OSU’s All-American running back and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Chuba Hubbard, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards in 2019, sounded off and effectively announced a boycott of the team and called for Gundy’s ouster.
I will not stand for this.. This is completely insensitive to everything going on in society, and it’s unacceptable. I will not be doing anything with Oklahoma State until things CHANGE. https://t.co/psxPn4Khoq
— Chuba Hubbard (@Hubbard_RMN) June 15, 2020
Other college sports fans weighed in, many of them noting Gundy’s history of making controversial comments and his own visceral reaction to someone wearing a T-shirt he disliked.
I can’t fathom how stupid any human has to be at this point in time to wear an OAN t-shirt. But a football coach? Damn, Gundy. You’re special dumb.
— JSS (@JScottShep) June 15, 2020
Mike Gundy is finished at OK State. Maybe not immediately, but young athletes are paying attention to social issues like never before and his outspoken far right views are the end of his recruiting power. If he isnt fired for this explicitly, his inability to recruit will end him
— Ryan McCrystal (@Ryan_McCrystal) June 15, 2020
Here’s what OSU football coach Mike Gundy said about OAN on an April conference call. “It was so refreshing. They just report the news.”
This is the same outlet that just last week said a 75-year old activist in Buffalo deserved to get his skull cracked open by police. pic.twitter.com/buzIlSnamC
— Charlie Gile (@CharlieGileNBC) June 15, 2020
To recap Mike Gundy’s last few months:
– He’s said his players can “fight off” COVID-19 because they’re young.
– He’s said players need to return because of “money” and “budgets”
– He’s called OAN “refreshing” news coverage.
– He’s had his star RB threaten to boycott— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) June 15, 2020
So many Gundy things have happened I forgot about this. https://t.co/NyDM0VvvO9
— Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) June 15, 2020
Reminder that before Mike Gundy’s All-American RB threatened to quit because Gundy wore a OAN shirt- Gundy said college kids should play for free during the COVID-19 pandemic because states need the revenue…
That was April. Crazy is nothing new for the Mullet. https://t.co/pnFFSVunuX
— Neil W. Blackmon (@nwblackmon) June 15, 2020
Mike Gundy didn’t just get stupid. He’s been on this. Everything he’s done and said since the onset of Covid has been silly at best. https://t.co/1raz8F4HJZ
— quincy_avery (@Quincy_Avery) June 15, 2020
Free tip to Mike Gundy: your not far off but if u want your college kids to love you, wear a OAR shirt instead
— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) June 15, 2020
UPDATE: Coach Gundy, standing alongside Hubbard, put out a video statement on Friday evening, saying that he had “a great meeting” with some of his players who made him “aware of some things that players feel like could make our organization and culture even better here.” Gundy went on to suggest he was “looking forward to making some changes,” but didn’t elaborate what new policies he was considering.
Change is coming I promise you that. pic.twitter.com/wTGHtByh3N
— Chuba Hubbard (@Hubbard_RMN) June 15, 2020
