Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard ran for 2,094 yards and 21 touchdowns in Mike Gundy's offense a season ago. And yet, as his junior season approaches, Hubbard finds himself at odds with his head coach.
Hubbard, a theoretical 2020 Heisman Trophy candidate, says he will not do anything associated with the university after Gundy was photographed wearing a "One America News Network" shirt:
OAN is a right-wing news station, one that has typically been very friendly to President Trump in media briefings. Earlier this year, one of their reporters prefaced a question to Trump by comparing the number COVID-19 deaths to the number of elective abortions that happen on a daily basis.
Recently, Trump suggested that a 75-year-old man that was pushed down by police officers and started bleeding as he attempted to hand one a helmet back may be part of ANTIFA. He credited OAN for bringing the possibility into his thought process:
Gundy, 52, played quarterback at the school from 1986-89 and has been the head coach since 2005. He's previously blamed "liberalism" for what he perceives to be entitlement among athletes that come from the millennial and Gen Z generations:
Gundy ended that answer by saying "don't get me on politics." This shirt - which he had to go out of his way to get - and the state of the country currently involve an intersection into politics. How Gundy chooses to respond to his most accomplished player taking issue with how he's treating the moment that's happening in this country could define his tenure at Oklahoma State. It's not immediately clear if Gundy could or would do anything in his power to repair his relationship with Hubbard.
This is the second time that Gundy has found himself in hot water in 2020. In April, he suggested that he believed the team could resume organized activities by May.
"In my opinion, if we have to bring our players back, test them. They're all in good shape. They're all 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22-year-olds. They're healthy. A lot of them can fight it off with their natural body, the antibodies and the build that they have," he said.
"There's some people that are asymptomatic. If that's true, then we sequester them. And people say that's crazy. No, it's not crazy because we need to continue and budget and run money through the state of Oklahoma."
Gundy later attempted to apologize for the comments.
"I have been made aware that comments from my press conference have offended some," Gundy said. "It was never my intention to offend anyone and I apologize. My first priority is and will always be the student-athletes and doing what is best for the program and the university."
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