NewsOK: Oklahoma City News, Sports, Weather & Entertainment

THE COLUMNIST Carlson stands by her facts, citing sources, observations

STILLWATER — I finally got a follow-up question.






"I don't have to,” he said.







What would you do?

Take it?


That's what I wanted.



I never said that they did.


I feel as adamant about the facts in that column as Gundy did in his belief that his player shouldn't have been so scrutinized.

That is a reasonable and healthy debate. How much should college athletes be scrutinized?

High school athletes are treated differently from college athletes. Pro athletes are treated differently still. In general, athletes are more scrutinized the higher they climb.

There are shades of gray, though, in college athletics. A fourth- or fifth-year player is held more accountable for on-field performance than a freshman. A college football player at a big-time school is scrutinized more, too, because football is just a different beast.

The idea of "amateurs” playing big-time college football is novel but naive these days. College football is the minor leagues for pro football. It isn't quite professional, but it isn't still amateur, either. The money and the attention and the importance shade it more toward the professional level.

Reid, as a fourth-year player and a 21-year-old man, leans more toward the upper end of that scale.

Now, I didn't write that column Saturday to embarrass Bobby Reid. He has been a super kid to deal with, and frankly, I've thought highly of his ability. Heck, I wrote last year that I thought he might be the second coming of Vince Young.

No, the reason for my column Saturday was because of one lingering question — why have the Cowboys, who so adamantly backed Reid, suddenly switched course, benched the biggest recruit to ever sign with the program and jumped full speed ahead with Zac Robinson?

Again, my answer came from sources and observations.

I stand by those facts.

Gundy has said three-fourths of them are wrong, but I'm waiting to hear the argument against even one.

Jenni Carlson can be reached via e-mail at