That OAN T-shirt is going to end up being the tipping point for plenty of problems for Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy.
The incident, which prompted a non-apology from Gundy followed by an apology that looked and sounded more like a hostage video, dusted off a claim made by Alfred Williams and other Colorado Buffaloes in 1989.
Williams, a first-round pick of the Bengals in 1991 who spent nine seasons in the NFL and won a pair of Super Bowls with the Broncos, contends that Gundy, then the quarterback at Oklahoma State, directed a racial slur at Williams during a game between Oklahoma State and Colorado.
Williams and other Colorado players made the allegation at the time. An article on the situation appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Safety Tim James claimed that Gundy directed the slur to several Colorado players during the game, which Colorado won, 41-17; “I can’t count the number of times he used that word,” James said. “He has no class. There’s no place for that in sports.”
Said Williams at the time, “I hope not very many people raise their children to be like him. He said things he had no business saying to anybody.”
Williams, who currently appears on KOA radio in Denver, addressed the situation again today, after Shannon Sharpe mentioned it earlier in the day on FS1. And Williams confirmed that it happened on Wednesday’s show.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Williams said. “There’s no walking that back. This story’s been out there for 31 years.”
Williams added that it’s the only time that ever happened to him, in his life.
“I didn’t back down then,” Williams said, “I don’t back down now. . . . Every time I see him, I just want to run through him. Every time I see his face, every time I look at him, I want to run through him. . . . I’m 51 years old; why in the world do I need to lie about that?”
Gundy denied the allegations at the time they were made.
“It’s not true,” Gundy said, via the Post-Dispatch article. “They were doing the talking. Why would I say those things? I’ve been here four years, and half my friends [on the team] are black. It makes no sense.”
He may have to deny it again now, possibly with another hostage video.
