Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Football Honored By Army Sergeant
October 14, 2010 | Cowboy Football
Oct. 14, 2010
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State football team was visited by Army Sergeant Michael Heimdale after Wednesday's practice. Heimdale presented coach Mike Gundy and the Cowboys with an American flag that was flown in a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter on a mission in Baghdad in honor of the OSU football team's support of the troops overseas.
All season long, the Cowboys have been corresponding with members of the U.S. military deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Included in that group of players sending letters are quarterback Brandon Weeden, receiver Justin Blackmon, running back Kendall Hunter and numerous others.
After receiving an ovation filled with several audible thank-yous from the team gathered in front of him, Sgt. Heimdale addressed the squad. He said that he and members of the military appreciate the support that the OSU football team has provided and that he sees many of the Army's values such as loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and leadership in the Cowboys' actions both on and off the field. Heimdale also said that as troops serving overseas gather around their televisions on Saturdays to watch the Cowboys play, they have taken note of Oklahoma State's warrior ethos of never accepting defeat, never quitting and never leaving a fallen comrade.
Wide receiver Hubert Anyiam dedicated his first touchdown of the year to Dustin Hefley of the U.S. Navy, who just returned home from deployment. Anyiam wrote to Hefley before scoring the touchdown that his first score of the year would be for him, then after he found the end zone twice against Tulsa, wrote Hefley again to reaffirm that those scores were in his honor.
"We can't say thank you enough to our service men and women fighting overseas who give us the opportunity to do the things we love to do here at home," Gundy said. "Sergeant Heimdale and the U.S. soldiers serving around the world are an inspiration to our team and we hope to honor them in how we play and how we conduct ourselves off the field as well."
The No. 20 Cowboys travel to Lubbock to face Texas Tech at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
