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Mike Gundy is Just Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud Right Now

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Mike Gundy has always been this guy- he’s been hiding in plain sight all along. He’s just saying the quiet part out loud right now. He’s a Trumper, a #MAGA and he showed you signs of that in his infamous rant in 2007, the moment with which he is most synonymous.

Gundy looks, acts and sounds like every bad stereotype for a far-right winger, and he’s been showing us that all along. For some reason, we didn’t acknowledge it. If you think today’s controversy is just about him wearing an OAN t-shirt, then you have no idea who Mike Gundy and/or One America News network truly are.

oklahoma-state-mike-gundy

Let’s first take a look at what happened and how we got here, because this news cycle moved incredibly fast today. Gundy was photographed wearing an OAN shirt over the weekend.

OAN is basically nothing more than thinly vieled Russian propaganda. They’re an obscure network, yes, but they’re a favorite of the president, because they fawn over him in manner much more egregious  than even FOX. They basically out-fox even FOX.

They traffic more often in conspiracy theories, they promote more of the Kremlin’s intentionally divisive talking points, and they’re even more racist. FOX is more #AllLivesMatter while OAN is more #WhiteLivesMatter

https://twitter.com/Kyle__Boone/status/1272566261311057923

I know, it’s hard to believe that there is another network out there like FOX, but even worse, at all the things that make FOX bad, but here we are. The t-shirt is one thing, but really matters is the endorsement and that came in April, see the tweet above.

Gundy’s endorsing of a network that has called the Black Lives Matter “a criminal organization” led to unanimous All-American and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Chuba Hubbard stating that he “will not be doing anything with Oklahoma State until things change.”

The red shirt junior had 328 carries, 2094 yards and 21 TDs last season. He’s a Canadian track star and  top NFL prospect.

He drew support from an Ohio State star linebacker:

And if you’re still not aware why this is such a big deal, how much of an issue it is to have a major power five conference college football head coach promoting OAN, you need to see John Oliver’s in-depth segment on the network from April 6.

And/or watch this segment below:

Oklahoma State went into damage control mode fast, and the end result was this awkward, to say the least, video in which the only man apologizing is the one that doesn’t have to.

We’ve seen hostage videos that were less uncomfortable and more convincing than this.

https://twitter.com/Hubbard_RMN/status/1272673812795084801

Also, don’t forget something else Mike Gundy said in April, about the coronavirus. He basically regarded college football players in the same manner that factory farmers think of their cattle:

The picture is all starting to come together now isn’t it? College football is a place that often attracts a certain mindset and worldview.

And it’s pretty obvious now that Gundy has that worldview. Go back to his signature moment- the 2007 “I’M A MAN! I’M 40!” rant. What got lost in the coverage of that tirade is how he repeatedly trashed the media.

He said: “THAT’S WHY I DON’T READ NEWSPAPERS! BECAUSE THEY’RE GARBAGE!”

He was doing the “fake news” bit seven years before Trump. That’s why he’s duped into thinking OAN is real, and why he’s an America Firster. It’s not fair to say that every frequently angry, LOUD mulleted dude is a…well, you know what they often are; and Mike Gundy is and always has been.

Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.

You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.