Happy 4/20, friends and fans!

With the 2020 NFL Draft kicking off this Thursday, this marks the beginning of perhaps the most important week yet in several Oklahoma Sooners’ lives, including DT Neville Gallimore. In conjunction with The Players’ Tribune, “Big Canada” submitted a letter to all NFL general managers who will have the chance to employ the him for his services. Clearly he brings a lot more to a team than rare athleticism. He brings a work ethic that’s been built over his lifetime.

Stay tuned right here at Crimson & Cream Machine for more on Gallimore and each of his Sooner draft mates later this week.

Now onto this week’s Monday edition of Hot Links! Kirk Herbstreit is intrigued by Jalen Hurts’ pro prospects, the 80s were a good time for some all-time Sooners, there was a sweet baseball brawl in the CPBL and more!

OU Links

• There are five Sooners who could enter the exclusive (or not-so-exclusive considering the program’s history) group of OU players drafted into the NFL this week. Between Neville Gallimore, Jalen Hurts, CeeDee Lamb, Parnell Motley and Kenneth Murray, find out where in the draft Spenser Davis of the Dallas Morning News predicts each of them to land.
• Speaking of Jalen, college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit recently stated that out of all the prospects in the 2020 NFL draft class, Hurts is the most interesting commodity. Because of the changing nature of NFL offenses, Herbsteit believes Hurts can find the right niche at the next level. Additionally, he’s fully confident that his future is at the QB position.
• On Saturday evening, Lincoln Riley gave us his Twitter eyes, indicating that a silent commitment had just occurred. Unfortunately for the Sooners, Ohio State had always been the favorite for four-star athlete Jantzen Dunn, and when Ryan Day’s staff was alerted to the development with Oklahoma, the Buckeyes stepped in. On Monday, Dunn announced his commitment to tOSU.

• Austin Reaves had a rollercoaster ride of a first season on the court for Lon Kruger and the OU men’s basketball team. On Sunday he talked about the totality of his year, despite the abrupt ending of the run in mid-March.
• Top 2021 QB prospect Caleb Williams recently talked about his continued relationship with Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma, and he discussed some of the other notable recruits he’s been in touch with that also share interest from the Sooners.
• A panelist of college football writers at ESPN put together a list of their favorite players from the 80s, and two all-time Oklahoma greats were mentioned — Brian Bosworth and Keith Jackson.
• Former OU special teams weapon Austin Seibert had a heck of a rookie season with the Cleveland Browns, and he’s not planning on taking any steps back in 2020. Well, other than the times he’s backing up to smash a 65-yarder right down the fairway. Call me crazy, but I think that one bounced off the moon.

Around the Sports World

• With the 2020 NFL Draft going totally virtual later this week, some have questioned the effectiveness of security measures against potential cyber-hacking. CBS Sports’ Jordan Dajani caught up with a network security expert on how this can be best prevented in an otherwise unprecedented time.
• Tennis super star Novak Djokovic recently stated that he would be opposed to taking a vaccine for COVID-19 if one was developed and it became mandatory for those traveling internationally.
• Due to the financial pressures stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the iconic Louisville Slugger baseball bat company has shut down its factory and furloughed more than 70 workers after being open for business for over 120 years. It also closed its museum’s doors until further notice.
• The New England Patriots are one of the latest NFL organizations to reveal new uniforms. Personally, the all navy look isn’t half bad, but I’m still a little on the fence about those white tops.

• While sports across the US are on hold, the Chinese Professional Baseball League is going strong (of course, without having fans in attendance). Fortunately for us, the CPBL has provided us with some much-needed entertainment in the form of a classic dugout-clearing baseball brawl. I don’t have a team to root for in this instance, but I’ll always root for sports.

Stick to Sports

• Just because it’s April 20, here’s an iconic moment from King of the Hill. Damned NAFTA!

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