STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy shared his thoughts on Cowboy legend Barry Sanders on Monday ahead of the Hall of Fame running back getting a statue this weekend.
Sanders played at OSU from 1986-88, winning the Heisman trophy in 1988 in one of the greatest single-season performances in college football history.
He earned multiple unanimous first-team All-American honors before going on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career in the NFL.
"He's the greatest running back to ever play college football," Gundy said Monday.
"If you just think back to the effect that he's had on this athletic department and this university, he deserves what's going to take place on Saturday."
Sanders ranks second all-time on the Cowboys rushing touchdown list and sixth all-time in rushing yards.
He left OSU after his junior year, getting selected third overall in the 1989 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
"What's interesting is, the style of offense they have now where coaches know how to spread the field and use the 52 yards-wide and get matchups, he'd rush for 4,000 yards a season," Gundy said.
I never get tired of @BarrySanders stories.
Mike Gundy on Sanders being honored with a statue this weekend, how many yards he would run for in today's game and his favorite Barry highlight run. pic.twitter.com/bBZ7DocjqR
— Cayden McFarland (@caydenmc) November 8, 2021
The statue of Sanders will be unveiled outside the northwest corner of Boone Pickens Stadium two hours before the Cowboys take on TCU on Nov. 13. The unveiling ceremony is free and open to the public.
He'll become the fourth person with a statue on the Oklahoma State campus, joining former president Henry Bennett, OSU's first African-American student, Nancy Randolph Davis and benefactor Boone Pickens.
Sanders will also have his name and the No. 21 put in the Cowboy Football Ring of Honor inside the stadium at halftime, joining OSU teammate Thurman Thomas as the first two names in the Ring of Honor.
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