Fans left debating over Mike Gundy’s viral comment on Ollie Gordon II’s DUI arrest: “Almost fireable” “We all done it”
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy decided to bring star RB Ollie Gordon to the Big 12 Media Days event at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Wednesday. This comes in the wake of Gordon's DUI arrest on June 30.
While Gordon's attendance raised many questions, the coach supported the student-athlete before the Media Day event took place.
Even though Mike Gundy did not try to justify Gordon's action, he said that he has had "two or three beers, or four, and then driven a car plenty of time."
"Well I've done that 1,000 times in my life, and I was just fine," Gundy said. "So I got lucky. People get lucky."
This statement garnered a lot of polarizing reactions from college football fans on X. There were fans who did not like that the coach made such a controversial statement.
"Almost fireable for a college coach," an X user commented.
"Yikes... Insane to say," a fan wrote.
"saying this with the pompadour mullet is absolutely WILD," another fan wrote.
However, some were of the opinion that Mike Gundy did the correct thing.
"nah he was keepin it 100. we all done it," wrote a fan.
"Who hasn’t done this? The internet is full of nerds," a fan added.
"I mean listen he’s obviously right. but he needs to double down that it’s not ok. but yeah everybody fucking been there," another fan chimed in.
Gordon led college football last year with 1,732 rushing yards and 2,062 yards from scrimmage, and was second in total touchdowns (22). He was named a unanimous All-American and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
Mike Gundy vouches for Ollie Gordon II and punishes him for his deed
As per Mike Gundy's statement, the Oklahoma State star running back will return to another year of college football but won't miss any games after his infamous DUI arrest in June.
The Cowboys coach felt that the move was the correct one because of how the NCAA operates, making student-athletes "essentially employees." He elaborated on his "punishment," as per ESPN's Pete Thamel:
"Your punishment is going to be facing the facts,” Gundy told Gordon, as per Pete Thamel. “That’s why we brought him here today … I said, ‘You’re not going into hiding. You're going to face the music, you're going to have to stand up and talk to people and answer questions. And, hopefully, more than football, you can learn from the situation you've been in.’ Because if not, then we have a real issue."
Ollie Gordon II was arrested in Moore, south of Oklahoma City. He was traveling with an open container of alcohol, failed to maintain a single-lane traffic, and speeding all while being under 21 years old.
He was then pulled over by the officials as he was seen swerving and speeding on Interstate 35. After refusing to take a field sobriety test, he blew a 0.11 BAC and a 0.10 BAC at the Cleveland County jail. The legal drinking limit in Oklahoma is a .08 BAC for those 21 and over.
The running back then apologized to X.
The Oklahoma State RB showed optimism at the Las Vegas media day event and will look forward to playing for the team.