Football season has barely started, and that means players are dealing with a bit of fame, even if it isn’t always nice. It seems two Sooners players have already found it a little difficult to keep their cool.
University of Oklahoma players Hatari Byrd and defensive captain Eric Striker faced reprimands by Coach Bob Stoops after the team’s Sept. 12 win over the University of Tennessee Volunteers.
Austin American-Statesman reported that both players were caught on camera heckling Volunteers fans after the game.
Hatari Byrd was seen “making an obscene hand gesture” — flipping the Byrd — “at fans as he walked off the field” and Striker was filmed “walking toward the stands and yelling at fans,” though “it was unclear what he said.”
NewsOK.com reported that Striker said Tennessee coach Butch Jones approached him after the game and said, “You’re a hell of a player, but have some damn class.”
Not everyone thinks Striker was in the wrong though. Bleacher Report posted a tweet by ESPN Central Texas’ Craig Smoak: “Eric Striker is in the heart of SEC territory running his mouth after an epic comeback win by the Sooners. I love it.”
Bleacher Report also said that Striker wasn’t the one to worry about and found Byrd’s actions troubling, citing legal problems relating to drugs and alcohol in January.
However, Stoops was only concerned with the players’ conduct at Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium.
“Their actions in the heat of the moment and all emotional are absolutely inappropriate, and they’ll be dealt with in an educational manner. We’ll handle it internally,” he said.
Print Headline: Reasonable reprimand
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2015.