Oklahoma State football had ‘couple players’ opt out of season

At least a couple Oklahoma State players have opted out of the football season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, coach Mike Gundy said during his weekly media availability Monday.

Gundy, however, declined to name those players out of respect for their privacy.

“We’ve had a couple players that, at this point which was a couple weeks ago or three weeks ago — I can’t remember when it was — that had some concerns and had decided to sit this season,” Gundy said. “But it’s been very minimal with our team.

“It’s a personal issue. If those players wanted people to know that they were opting out, I”m sure that they would’ve done like most young people and put it on social media so everyone could know.”

Gundy also said last week was the first week players were tested for coronavirus three times. OSU reported five active COVID-19 cases among all sports, including two on the football team, on Sept. 1. The other three came from non-fall sports teams.

The Cowboys will kick off their season against non-conference foe Tulsa at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. OSU will reduce BPS’ capacity of 55,509 to just more than 15,000 and provide social distance seating for fans this season.