Oklahoma State football: More on Robert Nunn
I received a lot of good feedback from my Robert Nunn column in the Friday Oklahoman. Nunn is the former OSU linebacker who now coaches defensive line for the New York Giants. You can read the column here.
I heard from a variety of people giving me additional perspective on Nunn.
I heard from long-time Oklahoma high school football coach Ray Goldsby, who was coaching at Moore when Nunn graduated from Apache High School.
“Thanks for the great article concerning Robert Nunn. I was fortunate enough to coach Robert in the Oil Bowl his senior year. Many people questioned us on why we would pick up a kid from Apache to play in the Oil Bowl. August Deets had been his coach in Apache, and in my opinion August had always been right up front with coaches, and his word was good. So when he said Robert could play, that was good enough for me. He then started for us at linebacker in the Oil Bowl and we beat a heavily favored Texas team that year. The rest is history, but it could not have happened to a better young man.
“He is and was just as the people described him in your article. I just feel privileged to have him be a part of my coaching career.”
I also heard from long-time Lawton Constitution sports editor Joey Goodman, who is the uncle of Maury Tate, Nunn’s lifelong friend.
“Good piece on one of the really great guys from Southwest Oklahoma. Remember when he was growing up, ornery little redhead who was always getting into something. His family and our family went to the same church, and I had a great time watching him growing up, first with his high school career and then at OSU.
“Obviously I’m proud of what he’s accomplished, knowing him like I do. He and Maury were always together and many times I was right there with them trying to provide guidance.
“One of the best stories he didn’t tell you about was his four sons and how they love to go ‘home’ to Grandpa Bill’s barn and hunt rats. Bill told me they can kill more rats than any old cat.
“He also didn’t tell you about the cookie story. Mom Ann makes a heckuva chocolate-chip cookie and she sends some to Robert before every Giants home game. He told me that if they win, the linemen get the cookies, if they lose the coaches or staffers get them. (Jason) Pierre-Paul has been known to literally grab them out of the hands of the other linemen.
“The more things like that you hear, the more you learn that Robert makes playing for him fun. He tries to make practice tough but interesting and not boring. Obviously he’s done a great job in that area and the Giants are the beneficiary of his efforts.”
Our Super Bowl correspondent, Josh Weinfuss, also supplied some further thoughts from Nunn at Super Bowl Media Day.
On living in New Jersey, compared to Apache: “It’s a little bit different (laughing). Just a tad different. But you know what, it’s like everywhere else. There’s good people wherever I’ve been. Our next-door neighbors are just as good of people as I grew up with. It’s been a great experience and been a fun ride. Eating at the café in Apache is a little less expensive than going down to eat at any restaurant in New York. Like I said, we make the best of it. My family likes it, like the people we’re around. My kids go to school there. We’re enjoying it.”
On routinely talking with his father, Bill, an Apache farmer: “We talk about everything. Talk about the grandkids. It starts with the grandkids, then it goes into football, then farming, the weather, my brothers, the rest of the family. It’s usually on Fridays. It’s the day we kind of slow down and I’m usually always driving home in traffic.”
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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hey robert…. good luck… we were in new york in september, wish i had known you were there… would love to see you. take care… and good luck tomorrow!!!! cindy nelson