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Oklahoma Sooners Football Hot Links: Kyler Murray avoids big hits, Red Panda comes to Norman, and more!

Also, Sooner Nation mourns the loss of former receiver Jon Harrison.

NBA All-Star Game 2016 Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

How’s it going, friends and fans?

Normally I’d say ‘Happy Monday’, but unfortunately the Oklahoma Sooners family lost a great one this morning. Jon Harrison, 70, passed away in his hometown of Abilene, Texas. The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel has more on the story of the early 70’s star.

Although the wishbone offense was all the rage and a nearly unstoppable force at the time, whenever QB Jack Mildren did pass in 1971, the ball often found an open Harrison down the field.

If you are fortunate enough to have any personal memories of watching Harrison and/or that ‘71 Oklahoma team play, you’re more than welcome to share in the comments below. He will be missed by Sooner Nation.

Now onto this week’s Monday edition of Hot Links! Kyler Murray to Arizona talks heat up, Trae Young is ejected for some BS, every animal would be tough to cover in the NFL and more!

OU Links

  • The latest smoke coming from the NFL Combine pertains to Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury reportedly being all-in on Kyler Murray. Nothing official or on-record supports the rumbling, and it’s also worth noting that he might not have the final say in this anyway. Still, momentum appears to be shifting in the direction of OU having back-to-back No. 1 overall picks.
  • Despite not being gifted with tremendous size, Kyler Murray has nearly perfected the art of avoiding major hits. It’s how he’s learned how to play, and upon further review, it might be his greatest strength, since it keeps him on the field and in games.
  • After Saturday’s doubleheader was cancelled due to the freezing temperature, Oklahoma softball’s Tuesday game against McNeese State has now been moved up to 3 p.m. for the same reason.
  • In case you missed it, Oklahoma women’s gymnastics hosted the sport’s biggest meet of the regular season on Sunday against UCLA. The No. 1 Sooners held off the No. 2 Bruins for the win in front of a record-setting home crowd.
  • OU hosts Kansas tomorrow, and admission is free to OU students. Also, RED PANDA!
  • Don’t forget to check out Kartik’s weekly update on Blake Griffin, Buddy Hield and Trae Young in the NBA. There were some impressive performances for each of the three former Sooner hoopsters this past week.
  • Speaking of Young, he was ejected for the first time in his pro career after staring down Kris Dunn and receiving a second technical foul. Talk about soft refs...

Around the Sports World

  • Which animal would be the toughest to cover for defensive backs? SB Nation’s Alex Kirshner caught up with several DBs at the NFL Combine to get down to the bottom of this tantalizing question.
  • In other combine question news, Texas’ Kris Boyd was asked if he has both his testicles. There’s something that doesn’t sit well with me in regards to questions like these. Clearly the goal is to see how a player reacts when faced with a shocking question after monotonous inquisition, but to me it feels ethically wrong at a systemic level. I’ll digress, for now.
  • Talks between Carmelo Anthony and the Los Angeles Lakers have been put on hold, which is probably a good thing for both parties considering the dysfunction within each camp.
  • Dirk Nowitzki tells it like it is, even if it’s a diss to a photoshoot that he was involved in. Check out this throwback cover of him and Tracy McGrady as young ballers, iced out in their jerseys, then read the career Maverick’s opinion on it. Good stuff.
  • A New York man has been arrested and charged with a felony for first-degree scheme to defraud and a misdemeanor for falsely reporting an incident after faking his own kidnapping. The reason? He owed a bunch of money after failing to rig a game of Super Bowl squares.

Stick to Sports!

  • In Oregon, a man and his dog were stuck in a vehicle for five days before rescue arrived to dig them out of several feet of snow. So what did the man consume to keep himself functioning? Nothing but taco sauce packets. What I want to know now is were those packets of mild, hot, or fire sauce? These are important survival details, people.

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