Karen Walker, her husband, Josh, and their son, Cannon, arrived at the stadium ready to celebrate. Lincoln Riley shocked Oklahoma football fans by announcing he was leaving for USC.
Karen wore a shirt that said "IT AIN'T GOOD ENOUGH" in honor of new Sooners coach Venables, who returned to the plains after spending 1999 to 2011 as an Oklahoma assistant under Bob Stoops.
Venables challenged fans to Pack the Palace, a reference to the stadium's nickname, and the Walkers were among more than 75,000 fans who did.
Cannon wore a trademark headband for his favorite player, Baker Mayfield, by showing his love for him. The white headbands, with the word "Baker" written in red, were one of the freebies handed out to fans to mark the new statue of Oklahoma's walk-on quarterback.
After the Cleveland Browns traded for Deshaun Watson, Oklahoma fans can relate to the rough time that Mayfield has had in the off season. They exhaled. The show turned the spring game into a tent revival.
The Sooners faithful came together and circled their wagons to remind the college football world that they don't plan on going anywhere.
Karen called it a rebirth.
In his first head-coaching appearance, Venables reveled in it, giving speeches from the center of the field before the game and again at halftime. At times, he sounded like a pro wrestling commentator, urging fans to do their part.
Venables demanded that the place be demoralizing and deafening.
The largest spring game crowd in the country was planned for Oklahoma, according to the athletic director. The fans had an official total of 75,306.
Castiglione said that the crowd was the largest they had ever had. It set a great tone for what we want to create for our program.
More than 250 former players showed up.
The program is not a single person according to former Sooners coach Barry Switzer. We are one of the top five programs in America, and we have people supporting us the way we do.
The lifelong Sooners fan who grew up behind the burnt orange enemy lines in Austin, Texas, seemed starstruck by the presence of all of his heroes. The most unbelievable story was the scramble by Mayfield.
Stoops said that it was a movie and that it spoke to how special he was. To become the first pick in the draft, you have to show up here and get the starting job. It is just who he is. He is a winner, and it is an incredible, incredible true story.
Mike Jones, a former Switzer assistant who is now in business in Norman, has known Baker since he was a baby and has been friends with James and Gina, the parents of Baker. Seeing a statue of someone you watched grow up is very strange.
When we were watching bowl games, Baker always wanted to be an Oklahoma Sooner, and I used to throw passes to him when he was 4 years old. I thought he would be a linebacker. He likes to hit things.
Stoops said that it was one of the happiest days of his life when he saw Mayfield after the first spring meeting. Stoops said he was interested in Oklahoma but that it was not confirmed that he was interested in Texas Tech quarterback Baker Mayfield, who had started five games but had not been put on a scholarship.
After a team meeting, a guy walks up to me and says that he is Baker Mayfield, and I looked at him and smiled.
Baker decided to go to Oklahoma. I want to be where I want to be, not who I will have to compete against. Gina picked him up and took him to Norman.
There is a 9-foot-tall, 2,500-pound version of him there, along with some of the Sooners legends. Kyler Murray is due for a statue next year, as he joined Billy Vessels, Steve Owens, Billy Sims, and Sam Bradford in Heisman Park.
The statue was supposed to be unveiled in 2020, but was delayed by the Pandemic. Mark Rayner is a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners.
He said that he would probably be voted the most beloved Sooner in recent history, and that it was a big day for him to get a statue. He has been in a rough patch lately with all the negative things happening in Cleveland.
The city embraced him after he returned. The owners of Tarahumaras, Alex and his father, had a long-running joke with him before he ever started a game for the Sooners.
Alex thought it was a good idea to give him a good laugh and give him a warm home. We misplace the old one, but I hope we get another one from you.
BREAKING: @bakermayfield requests to be traded to Tarahumaras! #ourboy😍 #boomer pic.twitter.com/WgssjWA9xA
— Tarahumaras (@RealTarahumaras) April 22, 2022
The excitement around Saturday's ceremony and game helped the Sooners turn the page after a tumultuous off-season that began with the departure of coach Lincoln Riley. Several recruits decided to follow Riley to USC instead of sticking with their pledges to Oklahoma.
Rayner said it felt like the start of a new era.
Almost everyone. Rayner did not mention Riley, but he did not have to.
He was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of the greatest coaches in the history of the school, including Venables. It was read.
BUD BARRY BOB BIG MISTAKE BRENT
BOOMER!
All Rights Reserved © 2024
