Mike Gundy doesn’t agree with NCAA decision on Oklahoma State football using QR codes
Mike Gundy doesn’t agree with NCAA decision on Oklahoma State football using QR codes
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy was admittedly caught off guard last week when he learned placing a QR code sticker on a helmet to link fans to a name, image and likeness fund was not going to be allowed by the NCAA.
The NCAA deemed the stickers — which link to OSU’s NIL collective Pokes With A Purpose’s general fund for all players — to be advertising or commercial marks. OSU was the first program to take such a step but announced an hour before kickoff Saturday there would be no helmet stickers, just QR codes throughout Boone Pickens Stadium along with local restaurants and bars.
“All we’re trying to do is the most we can do to maximize our players’ opportunities with fans across the world that don’t have a chance to be involved if they’re not local,” Gundy said.
But this might not be the last word.
After the Cowboys’ 44-20 win over South Dakota State to open the season, Gundy said he plans to fight the NCAA ruling, even if that means going through the legal system to make it happen.
“I’m working on it,” Gundy said.
More: Oklahoma State football smashes South Dakota State as Ollie Gordon scores 3 TDs in opener
That could mean a court battle, with the hope of gaining an injunction until a ruling could be made.
“If you read the rule like I did, it’s judgmental,” Gundy said. “Anything judgmental doesn’t hold up in the court of law. But I don’t want to put something on their helmet and then punish (the players).
“Then I look bad and I feel bad. If it was me, I don’t care. But I don’t want to do that to players.”
Gundy joked that he wished he would have filed a patent on the idea. He also said 45 other programs called OSU or the Big 12 last week looking for ways to implement the QR codes themselves.
“Because everybody’s going to do it,” Gundy said.
OSU players would have faced suspensions had the stickers remained on the helmets.
They were mostly unaware of the change of direction until pregame.
Star linebacker Collin Oliver said he did not know of the change until he saw his helmet without the sticker in the locker room.
“I thought it was a cool little thing,” Oliver said. “But I saw we had a big one on the sideline going into our walk. It’s still out there but seeing it on the helmets, it would have been cool.”
Ollie Gordon II stats: Oklahoma State football RB scores 3 TDs vs South Dakota State
Oliver did say he believes OSU fans will make up for it anyway.
“Our fans are loyal enough,” he said. “That means enough to us.”
Gundy said the reaction had been positive to his idea. He’s learned of watch parties for each game around the world. He said there is at least one in cities like New York City and Los Angeles. He said a bar in Edmond raised several thousand dollars alone on Thursday.
And that’s where Gundy is finding a glimmer of hope.
If the QR code wasn’t visible outside of the stadium, the plan to elevate NIL in an expanding market inside the college football world would fail.
But should they return to helmets, the possibilities to raise funds could be endless.
It just might take some more time and some back-and-forth with the NCAA.
“To me, I’m like, ‘Really, you got nothing else to do but worry about us with a sticker on our helmet?’” Gundy said. “But it is what it is.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-31 17:18:00
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