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

Andy Nesbitt

Mike Gundy unleashed his legendary rant just over 18 years ago to the day he was fired by Oklahoma State.
Mike Gundy unleashed his legendary rant just over 18 years ago to the day he was fired by Oklahoma State. / @FoxSports
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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!"

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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.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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