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Oklahoma State University running back Chuba Hubbard has said that he will not play for the school after coach Mike Gundy was seen wearing a T-shirt advertising a far right news network that supports president Donald Trump.
Hubbard tweeted that he would never do anything for the university again, unless there were changes made, after Mr Gundy was pictured in a top emblazoned with OAN, which stands for One America News.
The far right network, founded in 2013, is often cited by Mr Trump and is known for pushing conspiracy theories and false claims.
During the recent George Floyd protests, OAN falsely claimed that pipe bombs had been planted at the Korean War Memorial in Washington DC, and falsely suggested the 75-year-old man pushed to the ground by officers in Buffalo, New York, had ties to anti-facist organisation, Antifa.
The photo of Mr Gundy and his two sons was posted to Facebook, but was then shared to Twitter by CBS journalist Kyle Boone.
After seeing that Mr Gundy had worn the T-shirt, Hubbard tweeted: “I will not stand for this..This is completely insensitive to everything going on in society, and it’s unacceptable.
“I will not be doing anything with Oklahoma State until things CHANGE.”
Hubbard, who is from Alberta, Canada, had a very successful year in college football, and was a first-team All-American alongside being named the Big 12 offensive player of the year, according to ESPN.
His stance with the university was praised by others in the game, including Baltimore Ravens running back Justice Hill and Oklahoma State teammate and roommate Amen Ogbongbemiga.
Hill tweeted in response to Hubbard’s post: “OSU Athletics and University need major change. 100% support brotha.”
Ogbongbemiga replied to the tweet saying: “I stand with him!”
Speaking about the coronavirus pandemic in April, in a teleconference with reporters, Mr Gundy controversially confirmed that he watches OAN.
“It’s One America News. And it was so refreshing. They just report the news. There’s no commentary. There’s no opinions on this. There’s no left. There’s no right. They just reported the news,” he said.
“And I’ve been watching them the last week, because they’re given us the news and given us more information — in my opinion — some of the positives are coming out. So, that was refreshing.”
The Independent has contacted the university for comment.
