Oklahoma State got a little extra energy at practice on Monday when head coach Eric Morris brought in two former Cowboys to speak to the team: quarterback Brandon Weeden and safety Terry Brown.
That kind of visit is a familiar move in football camps, and Morris used it to give a brand-new roster a boost after a season that went 1-11. Weeden, who played at Oklahoma State from 2008-11, came away impressed with what he saw.
“I love the juice - love it,” he said in video captured by Oklahoma State athletics. “Defense, I haven’t seen that juice around here in a few years.
I love to see that. Offense, same deal man.
That’s what it’s all about.”
Brown, who was at OSU from 1966-69, brought a different kind of perspective. A Walters, Okla., native, he said he didn’t get to play with the varsity or even dress with them, since freshmen dressed in the basement of Gallagher-Iba Arena. He went on to become a second-team all-Big Eight performer, then played for four NFL teams from 1969-76.
Brown also has a place in Super Bowl history: with the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX, he became the first Oklahoma-born player to score a touchdown, doing it on a blocked punt. After watching practice, he complimented Morris’ session and joked that he wasn’t sure the Cowboys took a break. Then he turned his message to the bigger picture.
“You guys can show this whole country what you've got, if you keep that unity that's so important, that teamwork,” Brown said. “Keep that feeling of liking each other and liking to work together with each other and getting the job done, it’s doesn’t get any better. But do it for the guy next to you.”
Weeden’s path to Stillwater was different. He was an all-state player in baseball and football at Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Okla., and went pro in baseball before returning to football after four years. Once he took over as a full-time starter in 2010, he threw for 4,277 yards, 34 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
The next season was the big one. Weeden helped lead Oklahoma State to a 12-1 record, a Fiesta Bowl win and the program’s first Big 12 championship. He finished 2011 with 4,727 passing yards, 37 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, a run that launched a seven-year NFL career.
He left the current team with a simple challenge: keep pushing, and make Boone Pickens Stadium a place opponents hate to walk into.
“If you get this place rocking, if you get Boone Pickens stadium rolling, if you get a little juice in here, you're gonna love playing at Oklahoma State I promise you,” he said. “We won 12 games my senior year. I mean they don't get any better than that, fellas.”
Oklahoma State opens the season at Tulsa on Sept. 5 and returns home to face Oregon on Sept. 12.
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