GREAT NEWS: Oklahoma Sooners are bringing him back
Danny Stutsman made a statement on Monday afternoon that radically altered Oklahoma’s destiny in the Southeastern Conference.
In a video uploaded on social media, the Oklahoma linebacker revealed his decision to return for his senior season.
I’M NOT 🤬 LEAVING. pic.twitter.com/FfCIy23Q9W
— DannyStutsman (@FbStutsman) December 11, 2023
With his return in 2024, there’s a case to be made that the SEC’s top linebacker will live in Norman, Oklahoma, given the numbers he’s put up the last two seasons. 224 tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, three interceptions, seven passes defended, and 21 quarterback hurries (according to Pro Football Focus). This year, he led the Sooners in tackles (99) and TFLs (16.0), while placing third on the team in snaps despite missing the Oklahoma State game due to injury, according to PFF.
It’s safe to say that under Brent Venables’ supervision, No. 28 in Crimson is widely regarded as one of the country’s best defenders.
So, when Stutsman announced his return with the support of former OU linebacker Brian Bosworth, every Sooner Nation member went into a frenzy, knowing that the leader of the OU defense was returning for one more round in the interlocking “O-U.”
It was especially meaningful considering the uncertainty surrounding Stutsman’s future. Danny’s father, Steve Stutsman, revealed that Danny informed the OU coaching staff last week that he was declaring for the NFL draft. Before his statement on Monday, Danny uploaded a screenshot of his empty locker, fueling suspicion about his leaving.
However, Steve told KREF, a Norman radio station, that a number of things influenced his decision to stay with the Sooners for one more season.
“This wasn’t a hoax; it was simply a matter of gathering information, trusting it, and making a decision,” Steve told KREF hosts Parker Thune and Mike Steeley. “It just came down to him making a heart-felt decision, which you can’t quantify. He received a draft grade that was more than positive. He was prepared to go. He wasn’t besieged by agents, and he wasn’t led about and told different things. He had all the correct information from Oklahoma, from all of my contacts, the NFL, and the agency that we work with.
“So, he had all the correct information and he didn’t want to be in a camp somewhere thinking, ‘Man, I wish I could go back. What did I do?’ He didn’t want any buyer’s remorse so I told him, ‘If you have one ounce of, ‘I wanna be there and finish this and then do this for my teammates, my coaches, and fans,’ then no one is going to fault you either way, but you can’t go back. You can always go to the NFL, but you can’t go back to college.
“This time next year, he won’t have to make that decision. That decision has already been made. It’s life is changing, there’s a fork in the road and you have to choose a fork. Next year, there’s no fork. It’s just go down the path and the path turns into the NFL. I’m happy for him. I know it’s a relief. It’s killing him and now he’ll be at practice and we’re on to San Antonio.”
When it came to fatherly advice on one of the biggest decisions of Danny’s life, Steve told his son that things change once football becomes a profession and that sometimes, it’s not all about the money.
“One of the things I’ve told him is, of course, we talked about pros and cons and what you’re feeling right now, these are men’s decisions,” Steve said. “These are decisions with family and this is what happens daily when you’re making big decisions like this. When you get to the NFL, you’re there to possibly take a guy’s job. This guy has a kid and a family. It isn’t going to be chummy, chummy locker room stuff. He’s gonna go home to his wife and kids, you’re gonna go home and play Xbox. It’s two different things. It’s a professional world. There are a lot of things that are expected out of you and there’s a lot of things that go into that so you gotta make sure that this decision is the right one.
“He has outstanding coaches who will fine-tune his skills and make him a better person and athlete by next year. So it’s just having all of the facts, as well as a wonderful team and people around him who want him to perform his best without being paid. “It’s not always about money.”
So, how close was Oklahoma to moving forward without Danny? According to the older Stutsman, the procedure had already started with the equipment personnel.
“I want to say this, and I hope [Chris] Plank is listening,” Steve added, chuckling. “When Danny snapped a screenshot of his empty locker, Plank jumped on it—which was correct. That was his locker. Danny] went up there to work out, and the equipment crew had emptied his locker. He was like, “What the heck, man?” They emptied my locker. I came up here for a lift and hadn’t said anything yet. They were like, ‘Well, you weren’t at practice; we just assumed you were gone.’ He answered, “Put my stuff back; I have to lift.” So he took a picture of his locker and made a tiny sad face, and to suggest that Danny doesn’t know what he’s doing.
