'We try to educate': More than 80% of Oklahoma State football team vaccinated from COVID-19
Jacob UnruhOklahoman
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State’s team vaccination rate is rising.
More than 80% of the team has been vaccinated for COVID-19, Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said before Friday’s first practice of fall camp.
Just last month, Gundy said just 55% of the team was vaccinated early in the summer.
“I think it’s a personal preference,” Gundy said. “You know how that is — everybody has an opinion on what they want to do.
“So, we try to educate, well, everybody that’s in the facility and let them make their own choice.”
Players are making their choices not just for themselves. They’re looking at the bigger picture.
The Big 12 has not formally finalized a rule that a team must forfeit a game if it’s unable to play due to COVID-19, but the conference’s athletic directors lean that way, according to the Kansas City Star.
“People on the team don’t want to be known as that guy that would happen to test positive and then primary contact 10 other guys,” OSU offensive lineman Josh Sills said. “Now, you can’t reschedule a game like you could last year.
“I think guys are looking at it from, ‘Well, I don’t want to be that guy,’ but more importantly they’re realizing the potential that we have this year and the team we have and that we can truly do something special. They’re putting the team before themselves.”
With the Delta variant surging across the country — Oklahoma averages more than 1,900 new cases a day — the Cowboys are showing an abundance of caution.
Gundy said non-vaccinated players must undergo testing twice a week and also wear a mask inside the football facilities.
“We haven’t altered anything other than being very cautious with the virus,” Gundy said.
NIL, the distraction?
Sills sat down with his parents this summer and made a decision.He wasn’t going to worry about Name, Image and Likeness. It’s his final year, so no distractions.
“It was one less thought that I needed in my head,” Sills said. “But more importantly, I’m an offensive lineman in college. No one really cares about offensive linemen in college. Everybody wants to see the running backs, the quarterbacks, the wide receivers, the DBs, that kind of thing.
“I’m super happy it’s benefited a lot of people on our team, but me personally I haven’t put any thought into it. I’m going to wait to see how the next six months go and if I get to where I want to get to, it’ll work out then. If not, then I can say I did everything that I could to try to get to where I want to get for my future.”
Sophomore receiver Brennan Presley echoed Sills. Presley’s role is expanding on the field to include more special teams work, so he doesn’t want NIL to be a distraction.
“When you start to really play for money and stuff like that, it takes the fun out of the game,” Presley said.
A change in style
Sills’ long, flowing mullet is no more.He arrived Friday with a shaved head and shorter beard.
Blame the Oklahoma heat, which can be tough on an Ohio native. But primarily blame his desire to drive with the windows down.
“It was very annoying and upsetting,” Sills said about his hair getting in his face while driving. “I just kinda had enough of it.”
But have no fear. Other OSU players sported new looks, including defensive end Brock Martin. He changed his jersey to No. 9 and proudly displayed a mullet.
Thomas Harper ready for expanded role
Entering his third season, defensive back Thomas Harper could be in line for an expanded role.He will play safety. He will play nickelback.
“We do different things with him because of his speed,” Gundy said, “based on his maturity, which now he’s getting into the category of a veteran player. He’s slowly but surely coming along and should start picking it up much faster, and he gives us a lot of flexibility because of his toughness and his speed.”
Last season, Harper played in all 11 games, starting one, while totaling 31 tackles with an interception, fumble recovery and three pass breakups.
Hale medically cleared
Redshirt junior kicker Alex Hale is medically cleared, a welcome sight for the Cowboys.Hale missed the final four games last season after suffering a lower leg injury in Bedlam warmups that ultimately required surgery.
He was 13 of 14 on field goals. Brady Pohl struggled in Hale’s absence, making just 5 of 9.
Gundy said Hale has felt good kicking the past six weeks.
“He's very reliable,” Gundy said. “He’ll work his way through over the next couple weeks to where he gets to a point where he’s back full speed.”
Quotable
At the end of Zoom interviews, Presley expressed what a lot of players and others probably felt Friday afternoon.“First day of fall camp, I’m about to go take a nap,” he said.
