Oklahoma football: More on PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY

Outstanding correspondence on OU-Notre Dame continues to roll in. Yesterday, I heard from former OU punter Brad Reddell, who kicked for the Sooners from 1989-92. Reddell’s dad, John, was an excellent end on Bud Wilkinson’s great Sooner teams from 1950-52 and then became an iconic Texas high school coach. Also, I blogged about Reddell’s brother, John, who attended the Ryder Cup last month and wrote an excellent essay. You can read that here.

Anyway, Brad Reddell read my column in the Tuesday Oklahoman about both OU’s and Notre Dame’s use of the PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY sign. You can read that here.

Brad emailed me with his recollections of the sign, which I found very interesting. Here’s his dispatch:

“I wanted to comment after reading your column this week on the Play Like a Champion Today sign slapped by the Sooners prior to each game. As you know, my father John played on those Coach Wilkinson teams in 1950-53. Many times he would speak of the sign and often referenced it during his coaching. In fact, when I was being recruited by Coach Switzer, Barry being “the King” and seemingly, sometimes mysteriously, knowing all about potential players, new this was quite a big deal to myself and my father and instructed Scott Hill to “make sure Brad will get to slap that sign”. I did and it was all but sealed up for me. Funny how the seemingly little things can be so big.

“I saw the same Play Like a Champion Today board in South Bend on my visit to Notre Dame, but, ya know, just wasn’t the same for me. Coach (Lou) Holtz seemed to like it though, as he jumped and slapped that sign like he was ready to buckle up and play.”