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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Andy Nesbitt

Mike Gundy’s Firing Has Eerie Connection With His Legendary ‘I'm a Man! I’m 40!’ Rant

Mike Gundy Oklahoma State

Mike Gundy's lengthy run as the head football coach at Oklahoma State has come to an end, with the school firing him on Tuesday.

While Gundy leaves as the winningest coach in program history, he will likely best be remembered by his legendary rant back in 2007 when he yelled while defending one of his players in a press conference: "I'm a man! I'm 40!"

What's wild now is that rant happened 18 years ago from Monday, meaning Gundy was canned just one day after the anniversary of that iconic moment.

Here's video of that rant that instantly went viral 18 years ago and continues to be loved by college football fans:

Here was the juicy part from that:

"Where are we at in society today? Come after me! I'm a man! I'm 40! I'm not, I'm not a kid. Write something about me, or our coaches. Don't write about a kid that does everything right that's heart's broken, and then say that the coaches said he was scared. That ain't true! And then to say that we made that decision because Donovan Woods, because he threatened to transfer. That's not true! So get your facts straight.

"And I hope someday you have a child and somebody be-- downgrades him, and belittles him and you have to look him in the eye and say, "You know what? It's okay. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not." Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?"

Fans paid tributes to that rant after Gundy's firing:

Gundy was in his 21st year as head coach at Oklahoma State. His teams have struggled lately, losing 12 of 13 games dating back to last year.

More College Football on Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s new college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mike Gundy’s Firing Has Eerie Connection With His Legendary ‘I'm a Man! I’m 40!’ Rant.

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