A well-deserved tribute to one of their biggest fans…
The Oklahoma Sooners lost one of their most hardcore supporters when country legend Toby Keith passed away on February 5th. Though Toby never went to college, instead going to work in the oil fields after graduating high school, he was a lifelong supporter of his home state team Oklahoma, and was often seen at Sooner football games in the fall.
After Toby passed away, the University of Oklahoma released a statement honoring the life of one of their biggest fans:
And at the Sooners’ next basketball game, the team left Toby’s seat empty, marked with a guitar and a red Solo cup.
Well with the Sooners football team taking the field this past weekend, it was their turn to honor the Oklahoma legend.
For the team’s annual spring game, Oklahoma painted Toby’s name and image on the field in a touching tribute to the ’90s country superstar:
Of course this will be Oklahoma’s first season in the SEC after leaving the Big 12, along with their rival Texas. And recently during a tribute at the CMT Awards, Toby’s good friend and former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens told a story about just how seriously Toby took the Sooners’ rivalry with the Longhorns.
Clemens, whose sons played baseball at Texas, said he once made a bet with them during a rivalry game:
“Toby told my boys, ‘If you hit a home run off our Oklahoma pitcher today, I’ll sit on your dugout and I’ll sing ‘The Eyes of Texas’ with you.’
Well guess what? It happened, and true to form, Toby sat on the dugout and with his funny and wit, sang, ‘I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.’
No chance Toby was gonna sing ‘The Eyes of Texas.’”
Boomer Sooner through and through.