Skip to main content
All Sooners

Sooner Football Staff Spending Down Time Giving Back to Norman Health Care Workers

Lincoln Riley and his staff assembled and distributed snack bags to Norman medical professionals this weekend.
John E. Hoover|
Sooner Football Staff Spending Down Time Giving Back to Norman Health Care Workers
Sooner Football Staff Spending Down Time Giving Back to Norman Health Care Workers

Oklahoma’s coaching staff is using the down time from the Coronavirus shutdown to give back to the Norman community.

Spurred by an idea from receivers coach Dennis Simmons, Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley recorded a video Sunday describing how and why the entire staff assembled and distributed snack bags for health care workers in Norman.

“Just wanted to say thank you to all our workers in the medical field,” Riley said. “… So all our families got together and put together bags of snacks to bring to these workers. They’re putting in crazy hours working right now to save a lot of lives.

“So it was a great idea. Families, all the (coaches’ children) decorated the bags so there was certainly a personal touch to it.”

WATCH OU 2019 HIGHLIGHT VIDEO

The video shows clips of the staff, their wives and their children — each family in their own homes — putting snacks into individually decorated bags, with additional thank-you clips recorded by the staff.

“We just want to thank all the medical professionals across the country, in Oklahoma and especially in Norman for all you’re doing to fight this virus on the front lines,” said offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.

To get the latest OU posts as they happen, join the SI Sooners Community by clicking “Follow” at the top right corner of the page (mobile users can click the notifications bell icon), and follow SI Sooners on Twitter @All_Sooners.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

Share on XFollow johnehoover
Home/Football