#Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy calls self ‘dumbass’ for OAN shirt as old accusation resurfaces

When a photo of Mike Gundy wearing a controversial T-shirt surfaced this past week, the Oklahoma State football coach watched as past accusations came back to haunt him.

Now that he’s had time to reflect on his decision to wear a shirt with the logo for One America News, a far-right news channel, Gundy referred to himself as a “dumbass.”

“I didn’t know that some of the stances they had taken, I didn’t know that,” he told ESPN. “But then you look at it, and say, ‘OK I was a dumbass.’

“I put the shirt on, I know enough about the shirt. I understood exactly why the players got frustrated when they found that out or whatever, however they found out. I didn’t know, I didn’t know until the next day. I knew that night but I didn’t confirm it until I did a little research and I was like, ‘What a dumbass.’ So that’s my fault.”

The controversial photo threw Gundy’s name in the headlines, which prompted the resurfacing of an alleged incident from more than 30 years ago.

Former NFLer Alfred Williams claimed that Gundy directed a racial slur at him during a college football game between Oklahoma State and Colorado back in 1989. Williams and other Colorado players made the allegations at the time, with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch detailing the incident.

It was reported that Gundy directed the slur toward several Colorado players during the game, which the Buffaloes won 41-17.

“I can’t count the number of times he used that word,” safety Tim James told the Post-Dispatch at the time. “He has no class. There’s no place for that in sports.”

Williams, who currently appears on KOA radio in Denver after nine seasons in the NFL, addressed the incident again recently.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “There’s no walking that back. This story’s been out there for 31 years.

“I didn’t back down then. I don’t back down now. . . . Every time I see him, I just want to run through him. Every time I see his face, every time I look at him, I want to run through him. . . . I’m 51 years old; why in the world do I need to lie about that?”

At the time, Gundy denied all allegations of using a racial slur toward Colorado players, telling the Post-Dispatch: “It’s not true. They were doing the talking. Why would I say those things? I’ve been here four years, and half my friends [on the team] are black. It makes no sense.”

Gundy hasn’t addressed the past accusations recently, as he seems to still be preoccupied with damage control on the T-shirt fiasco.

“The way the players feel about me and I upset them and broke their hearts, that upset me more than losing games,” he said in the interview with ESPN. “And that’s the truth. But that’s why now, as humans, when we make mistakes, the only thing we can do is admit we’re wrong, own up to it, be humble, accept critical people, criticism, make it better and move forward.’”