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Oklahoma State star Ollie Gordon apologizes, won’t miss playing time after drunken driving arrest

VaselineAugust 1, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Oklahoma State star Ollie Gordon apologizes, won’t miss playing time after drunken driving arrest

Oklahoma State star Ollie Gordon II will not miss any more playing time following his arrest for drunken driving last month, head coach Mike Gundy announced Tuesday during Big 12 media days in Las Vegas.

Gordon, now on a “shorter leash,” also joined Gundy and the Cowboys delegation in Las Vegas this week — as part of his punishment. Given the way college football works now, with Gordon and others “essentially employees,” Gundy felt it was the right move.

“Your punishment is you face the facts,” Gundy told Gordon, via ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “That’s why we brought him out here today … I said, ‘You’re not going to hide. You’re going to face the music, you’re going to stand up and talk to people and answer questions. And hopefully you can learn more than just football from the situation you’ve been in.’ Because if you don’t, then we’ve got a real problem.”

Because Ollie Gordon and others are now “de facto employees,” Mike Gundy wanted him to “face it” during Big 12 media days following his DUI arrest. (William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Gordon was arrested late last month just south of Oklahoma City and charged with driving under the influence while under 21, transporting an open container of alcohol, failing to maintain a single lane of traffic and speeding. He was pulled over just south of Oklahoma City after he was seen weaving and speeding on Interstate 35, and the officer said he later found two open containers of liquor in the vehicle. Gordon, after reportedly refusing to take field sobriety tests multiple times, blew a 0.11 BAC and a 0.10 BAC while in the Cleveland County Jail.

While Gundy said he wasn’t trying to justify Gordon’s actions, he did appear to downplay what happened Tuesday afternoon as he attempted to violate Oklahoma’s drunken driving laws, even saying he had “two or three beers, or four” and had been driving a car many times afterward.

“Well, I’ve done that 1,000 times in my life, and it’s worked out fine,” Gundy said. “So I got lucky. People get lucky.”

Here’s Mike Gundy’s full response to Ollie Gordon not getting suspended. I’m not sure “I’ve probably done that a thousand times in my life. And, and, you know what’s fine. I’ve been lucky, people are lucky” was the way to go photo.twitter.com/zVig6u7p7V

— The CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 9, 2024

Gundy later distanced himself from his comments on social media, stressing that he was not referring to “anything specific.”

My intended point today at Big 12 media days was that we are all guilty of making bad decisions. It wasn’t a reference to anything specific.

— Mike Gundy (@CoachGundy) July 9, 2024

Gordon apologized in a statement on social media Monday. While he did not go into details about his arrest in Las Vegas on Tuesday, he said he will meet with Gundy to discuss his sentence when they return to Stillwater — and he said he will support “whatever he decides.”

“He’s going to play,” Gundy said. “I’m going to do what we think is best for Oklahoma State football. And I think it’s best for Ollie to play. If there’s a penalty, it’s to make him carry the ball 50 times in the first game.”

Gordon had an FBS-high 1,732 rushing yards and 22 total touchdowns last season in his breakout campaign with the Cowboys. He led the team to a 10-4 record and an appearance in the Big 12 championship game, while earning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors. He also won the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s best running back each season, and finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting.

The Cowboys open their season on August 31 against South Dakota State.

“I understand young people, we all make mistakes,” Gundy said. “If we don’t learn from that, then it’s not really good. We’ve had multiple conversations. We’ll have more over the next month. I think he understands how serious that situation was. Hopefully he can learn from it and move on.”

VaselineAugust 1, 2024

0 3 minutes read