Lifelong Friendship Forged with a Touchdown Pass

STILLWATER – There was little doubt that the three roommates were all going to play. Hey, John Paul Richardson is a starter and has two touchdown receptions this season including a 10-yard catch from Spencer Sanders last Saturday that made the score 21-0 in the eventual 63-7 expected blowout win over FCS opponent Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The other two members of the No. 8 Oklahoma State Cowboys sharing space with Richardson are back-up quarterback Gunnar Gundy and back-up receiver Cale Cabbiness. Both have played, but in one aspect, Cabbiness had Gundy beat going into Saturday night. Cabbiness had a reception with his seal-the-deal catch at Boise State last season. Gundy had played in two games, last year against TCU and this season for one series in the opening win over Central Michigan. No passes, only handoffs in his previous two playing stints. By the end of the night the roommates would have a moment to share for the rest of their lives.

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Gundy back to pass in the first half of the UAPB game.

“I was ready to throw a pass,” Gundy said in the postgame locker room. “Just taking that first snap is the most nervous part, but that first pass wasn’t too bad, because I had done it so many times in practice. You just have to realize a game is the same thing as practice, it’s just now, everyone’s watching you.”

Gundy completed his first pass to running back Ollie Gordon, but then on his third attempt the ball hit Braylin Presley in the hands and went through and was picked off by UAPB. Gundy said in a way it was good. He learned how to overcome. Afterall, his dad went 138 passes before throwing his first college interception, at that time an NCAA record later broken by Baylor’s Robert Griffin III. Gundy came back and threw his first touchdown pass in the third quarter, a 16-yard perfect toss up to freshman Talyn Shettron in the corner of the end zone.

“I’ve been here for a long time, watched a lot of Cowboy football games,” Gunnar said. “I always imagined myself doing that for a long time. For it to actually happen was surreal for me, and I’ll cherish that for a long time.” Gundy came to Oklahoma State to play for his father, who threw many touchdowns on that field. Gunnar grew up watching quarterbacks his dad coaches like Zac Robinson, Brandon Weeden, Clint Chelf, Mason Rudolph, and even Spencer Sanders.

Then when Gundy guided the Cowboys offense into the red zone again, this time he hit his roommate Cabbiness on a short pass that Cale took and did the rest of the 16-yard touchdown.

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Cabbiness caught the pass and turned and made a move and then headed into the end zone.

"Running the route, I knew there was a good chance. The safety and the corner both were dropping pretty deep, so when I caught it, I knew there was a good chance for some RAC (run after catch),” Cabbiness explained. “And then I was fortunate to make a couple people miss and get into the end zone. I mean Gunnar put a good ball on me and it was all-around good execution on the play.

"It's awesome. I’ve been dreaming of doing things like this since I was very young,” Cabbiness added. “Finally, seeing this through to fruition and that all of the hard work has paid off is very special. It is very special with all my family here to see it in person.”

Pokes Report

Part of the Tubbs-Cabbiness cheering section last Saturday night. That is Uncle Tommy Tubbs to the far left. Tubbs played and coached for his dad at OU, but cheers for Cale and the Cowboys in football.

Cabbiness is the son of Taylor Tubbs, the daughter of long-time college basketball coach and yes, OU head basketball coach Billy Tubbs. However, before Coach Tubbs passed away he had gone along with his grandson to Oklahoma State for camps and a visit. He always hooked up with Mike Gundy as the two had an appreciation for each other.

It turns out that Cale Cabbiness and Gunnar Gundy met up as early little league baseball players on the same team. They went their separate ways only to follow each other’s career in high school and then walk-on at Oklahoma State a couple of months apart from each other. Now they are roommates.

“He’s a good roommate. You know, he could clean up a little bit more,” Cabbiness said with a smile knowing his message would get back to Gundy.

“Cale’s a clean-freak, so messy to Cale … that’s kind of pushing it,” Gundy said. “I picked him because like I said, he is very clean. He’s not a list guy. He does everything right and he’s on time. He is very squared away and never does anything wrong. He is a great roommate. Our relationship growing and him getting to score was special and we’ll probably go home and be talking about it for the next week or so.”

Next week, I mentioned to Gunnar they would be talking about it while they pushed their kids around in strollers and then maybe many years later rocking on a porch with grandkids running around.

“That would be cool getting together with our families and being able to tell stories and talk about that first touchdown pass we had together. I can see us being friends and getting together as we grow older.”

No doubt, met in little league, roommates in college with a relationship cemented by a touchdown pass.