Oklahoma State University Athletics
Q&A with Cowboy Football Ring of Honor Inductee Leslie O'Neal
September 06, 2024 | Cowboy Football
Former Oklahoma State defensive end and college football hall-of-famer Leslie O'Neal will be become the fifth member of the Cowboy Football Ring of Honor during this Saturday's game against Arkansas. O'Neal was a two-time All-American and the Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year while playing at OSU, and still holds the program records for career sacks (34.0) and sacks in a season (16.0). Hear from O'Neal ahead of tomorrow's ceremony below:
Q: "You've had a lot of honors since you played football here at Oklahoma State, since the day you arrived and being in the college football hall of fame, that's quite an honor, but you've had other honors as well including the OSU Hall of Honor induction. Every one of these is significant, but when your school honors you in something like the Ring of Honor, I have to think that's even extra special."
A: "Oh definitely. To look up on the wall of the stadium and see your name is just a great honor. Obviously, I couldn't have done it without the coaches [and] other players that I played with, but anyone who walks into that stadium to see my name up there its just a phenomenal deal. I never thought about the awards or the honors when I was playing, I just played to try to win. And when this stuff happens, and it comes up, and all of a sudden these awards start happening, yes its a great recognition. I never thought I was that good. I thought I was good, but I didn't think I was that good, But now, words can't describe it."
Q: "What your reaction when you were first notified that you would be this year's inductee? You're going up there with guys like Bob Fenimore and [Barry] Sanders and Thurman [Thomas] and Terry [Miller]. Those are significant names in Oklahoma State football history to say the least. You deserve to be up there because, from a defensive point of view, and Gundy said this, 'Leslie O'Neal on defense is what Sanders and Thurman Thomas was to this football program on offense' that's quite a compliment."
A: "I do take that as a compliment. When awards like this come to you, you start to reminisce about those times, because obviously it was a long time ago. I had hair back then. It takes you back memory wise. And so, again, it's a great honor. A lot of times, everybody talks about offense because it's touchdowns and rushing yards and all that, but you have to have a defense. It's a team. Anytime your name is out there after you finish playing the game, then it's nothing but a compliment to you."
Q: "When you played, there was no doubt through the naked eye, this guy gives great effort, is relentless and never takes a play off. [You] never cheated us in effort, never cheated us in relentlessness, never cheated us in what we needed to do, and that, to me, was about as impressive what you did on Saturdays."
A: "Football is a game that you can't go part way in it. You're either out there or you're not, because one of the things that I learned is you have to go as hard as you can, because the moment you take that little bit of time off, or take a play off, or whatever, that might be the play that you need to make to win the game, because you never know it could be one little play. All the years that I've ever played sports, when you look back on the game, there's a play or two here that change the complexion of the game. You never know when that is, so you have to always be ready. So, you always have to be hustling."
Q: "When was the first time that you realized that, 'Hey, my position coach, my coordinator, really thinks that I can get the job done in this spot?'"
A: "I will say that I remember in 1983 we played Nebraska, and that was the year that they had this big, 300-pound offensive line, and I remember that they got a guy from the band that was 300 pounds, and they got him to practice. And so, they had me going up against this guy. I honestly believe that they might have been scared that day, that maybe Nebraska was too much for me. And I remember, I have the plaque here at my house. I was Big Eight Defensive Player of the Game. We lost the game, but I had 20 tackles, blocked punts [and] couple sacks. And I think at that point, I believed that they started to realize that I could be special."
Q: "You took the Chargers kind of by storm because you were a first round draft choice. You backed up your talk on the field. You took exactly what we're talking about at Oklahoma State, and you took it to the NFL, and you were successful year, after year, after year."
A: "To be honest, the plan is simple. You work hard, you try to learn as much as you can [and]Â you try to grow your techniques. Hopefully you're in a good environment, where everybody else is thinking and doing the same thing and it's a journey that you make. At the end of the day, you look at the numbers, number of wins, number of losses, number of ties, and then after that, it's individual awards, honors, that type of deal. But at the end of the day, people play for different reasons. I played for the love the game, the love of competition and to win, and all I was doing was what I was taught at an early age. If you're going to go out there, give your best effort, do the best you can, leave it on the field, as they say, and that's all you can do."
Q: "You've had a lot of honors since you played football here at Oklahoma State, since the day you arrived and being in the college football hall of fame, that's quite an honor, but you've had other honors as well including the OSU Hall of Honor induction. Every one of these is significant, but when your school honors you in something like the Ring of Honor, I have to think that's even extra special."
A: "Oh definitely. To look up on the wall of the stadium and see your name is just a great honor. Obviously, I couldn't have done it without the coaches [and] other players that I played with, but anyone who walks into that stadium to see my name up there its just a phenomenal deal. I never thought about the awards or the honors when I was playing, I just played to try to win. And when this stuff happens, and it comes up, and all of a sudden these awards start happening, yes its a great recognition. I never thought I was that good. I thought I was good, but I didn't think I was that good, But now, words can't describe it."
Q: "What your reaction when you were first notified that you would be this year's inductee? You're going up there with guys like Bob Fenimore and [Barry] Sanders and Thurman [Thomas] and Terry [Miller]. Those are significant names in Oklahoma State football history to say the least. You deserve to be up there because, from a defensive point of view, and Gundy said this, 'Leslie O'Neal on defense is what Sanders and Thurman Thomas was to this football program on offense' that's quite a compliment."
A: "I do take that as a compliment. When awards like this come to you, you start to reminisce about those times, because obviously it was a long time ago. I had hair back then. It takes you back memory wise. And so, again, it's a great honor. A lot of times, everybody talks about offense because it's touchdowns and rushing yards and all that, but you have to have a defense. It's a team. Anytime your name is out there after you finish playing the game, then it's nothing but a compliment to you."
Q: "When you played, there was no doubt through the naked eye, this guy gives great effort, is relentless and never takes a play off. [You] never cheated us in effort, never cheated us in relentlessness, never cheated us in what we needed to do, and that, to me, was about as impressive what you did on Saturdays."
A: "Football is a game that you can't go part way in it. You're either out there or you're not, because one of the things that I learned is you have to go as hard as you can, because the moment you take that little bit of time off, or take a play off, or whatever, that might be the play that you need to make to win the game, because you never know it could be one little play. All the years that I've ever played sports, when you look back on the game, there's a play or two here that change the complexion of the game. You never know when that is, so you have to always be ready. So, you always have to be hustling."
Q: "When was the first time that you realized that, 'Hey, my position coach, my coordinator, really thinks that I can get the job done in this spot?'"
A: "I will say that I remember in 1983 we played Nebraska, and that was the year that they had this big, 300-pound offensive line, and I remember that they got a guy from the band that was 300 pounds, and they got him to practice. And so, they had me going up against this guy. I honestly believe that they might have been scared that day, that maybe Nebraska was too much for me. And I remember, I have the plaque here at my house. I was Big Eight Defensive Player of the Game. We lost the game, but I had 20 tackles, blocked punts [and] couple sacks. And I think at that point, I believed that they started to realize that I could be special."
Q: "You took the Chargers kind of by storm because you were a first round draft choice. You backed up your talk on the field. You took exactly what we're talking about at Oklahoma State, and you took it to the NFL, and you were successful year, after year, after year."
A: "To be honest, the plan is simple. You work hard, you try to learn as much as you can [and]Â you try to grow your techniques. Hopefully you're in a good environment, where everybody else is thinking and doing the same thing and it's a journey that you make. At the end of the day, you look at the numbers, number of wins, number of losses, number of ties, and then after that, it's individual awards, honors, that type of deal. But at the end of the day, people play for different reasons. I played for the love the game, the love of competition and to win, and all I was doing was what I was taught at an early age. If you're going to go out there, give your best effort, do the best you can, leave it on the field, as they say, and that's all you can do."
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