Oklahoma football: Six Sooner offensive lineman sign NIL deal with Hooters

We are less than two weeks from the kick-off of the 2022 college football season. The return of Oklahoma football can not come soon enough.

One of the key pieces to the success of the Sooner’s campaign will be how the offensive line plays this season. Oklahoma has traditionally had powerful offensive line play under OL coach Bill Bedenbaugh, and while last year did not live up to expectations most teams around the nation would trade in a heartbeat. Even national college sports analyst Mike Farrell extended a vote of confidence in the Oklahoma line of scrimmage.

Today the OU offensive lineman received a different kind of recognition, as six of the big men up front signed a NIL deal with Hooters. Tyler Guyton, Anton Harrison, McKade Mettauer, Andrew Raym, Chris Murray, and Wanya Morris. Each of the expected starting five, and the expected first tackle off the bench. In total 51 different linemen across the country signed with Hooters.

"“For decades, the physical play, blue-collar mentality and on-field leadership of the offensive lineman has shined, but national praise and attention for these crucial players has all-too-often been sidelined, We want to change the narrative and celebrate these elite student-athletes who play a pivotal role in making college football so thrilling and give them their fair share of the spotlight.”-Hooters chief marketing officer Bruce Skala"

Oklahoma fans around Sooner Nation will be hoping these wing-fed maulers will continue a tradition of excellence at the line of scrimmage in 2022. If the Oklahoma line can be the force it has been traditionally, don’t expect any step back from OU who has won 11 or more games in each of the past seven seasons, save the shorted 2020 season (OU finished 9-2).