How’s it going, friends and fans? If you’re familiar with Samaje Perine, the all-time career rushing leader for the Oklahoma Sooners, you probably know he’s an even better man than he is a player. As it turns out, Samaje isn’t the only class act in his family. Check out Austin Perine, Samaje’s four-year-old cousin. Austin has been using his allowance money to buy food for the homeless in Birmingham, Alabama. He’s also recently taken his charitable ways to Washington D.C., where his cousin Samaje now calls home.

It doesn’t get any more pure than this, folks. I think I can speak for all of Sooner Nation when I say how much it warms my heart to know that there are young people like Austin doing remarkable things out of love and generosity. It’s just a bonus that Austin is a relative of one of our own in this ever-growing Sooner family. Keep up the excellent work, Austin!

Now onto some Hot Links! Baker Mayfield was at the ‘Q’ for the Cavs game, Trae Young and Drake are homies, Steele Walker was named a Golden Spikes semifinalist and more!

OU Links

• Baker Mayfield and fellow first round draft pick Denzel Ward were in attendance for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and Mayfield was well received by the Cleveland fans. It’s too bad the Browns and the Cavaliers can’t switch color schemes, though. I’ll get over it. I just need time.

• Speaking of Baker Mayfield, since the Cleveland Browns drafted him with the first overall pick, the expectation is that Mayfield is in the driver’s seat to be the starting QB this season, but Tyrod Taylor is still working to prove he can be the guy for the Browns.
• Looks like Drake and Trae Young are tight now. Check out this Instagram post from the music mogul himself showing some love for the hometown hero rocking some Drake-inspired threads. Side note: For the next costume party I go to, I’m dressing as Trae Young.

• Oklahoma’s Steele Walker has been name a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation’s top amateur player. Walker has had one heck of a season and seems destined for a first-round selection in the upcoming MLB Draft.

• Ogbonnia Okoronkwo recently underwent foot surgery after sustaining an injury during the L.A. Rams’ rookie camp. Okoronkwo is expected to return during fall training camp, but likely not right away.

• Former Oklahoma offensive tackle Trent Williams checks in at No. 57 on the NFL’s list of the top 100 active players. An argument could be made that Williams deserves to be higher on this list, given he’s widely regarded as one of the top tackles in the league, if not the best there is.

• Oklahoma State mega booster and billionaire T. Boone Pickens recently celebrated his 90th birthday, and several famous friends of his sent him birthday wishes via video messages, such as actor Burt Reynolds and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Barry Switzer also wished him a happy birthday, and shared an amusing idea on the hypothetical of Boone being a Sooner instead of a Cowboy. The king still has jokes.
• Former Oklahoma running back commit Tavion Thomas has officially qualified academically to enroll at Cincinnati. Congratulations on becoming a Bearcat, Tavion!

• Speaking of running backs, Millwood standout and Oklahoma target Marcus Major received a pretty big offer today.

• With the recent firing of Kansas Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger, KU is now in search of a new AD. Current Oklahoma senior associate AD Kenny Mossman is on the Jayhawks’ short list for replacing Zenger.

Around the Sports World

• Two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Brandi Chastain is the latest sports great to have an embarrassingly terrible plaque/bust/sculpture made in her image. I mean c’mon now, this is just a total fail and a complete joke, people.

• The 2018 FIFA World Cup takes place this summer, and this time the cup’s theme song will be composed by a handful of musical artists, including the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith. I’m interested to see how this turns out, but I’m also expecting it to be some kind of awful.
• This Kevin Love-to-LeBron James outlet pass is a thing of beauty I had to watch again and again. Is Love gunning for Mayfield’s future job??? Could be interesting.

• Blue-chip college football players transferring from schools has become a sort of trend in today’s game, especially at the quarterback position. Here’s what you should prepare yourself for if your school is signing a five-star signal caller.
• LSU’s football stadium has been broken into many times over the years. Take a look at the top ten times the Tigers’ stadium has been broken into, ranked by memorability.
• Check out Wisconsin defensive lineman Olive Sagapolu doing this sweet backflip in the sand. Keep in mind Sagapolu weighs well over 300 pounds, so to be able to do this at all is impressive enough. The sand factor just puts it over the top. Awesome stuff, but Jordan Phillips could do it better.

Stick to Sports!

• On the final night of the 2018 Rock on the Range music festival, Tool dedicated their set to the family and friends of Chris Cornell, the late lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave. Soundgarden was originally scheduled to headline the festival, but two days prior to the concert marked the one year anniversary of Connell’s unexpected death.

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