Towering over the west end zone at Boone Pickens Stadium are names that hold immense value to Oklahoma State's football program.
Thurman Thomas. Barry Sanders. Bob Fenimore. Terry Miller. All offensive pieces that aided in making Cowboy football relevant. All names that, before Saturday, compiled OSU football’s Ring of Honor. Thomas was the first name etched into the walls of BPS, while the latter three have been added since.
But Saturday, when No. 16 OSU hosts Arkansas, another name will reside there. This time, a defensive player will claim the spotlight.
Leslie O’Neal, who anchored the Cowboys’ defensive line from 1982-85, will be honored during halftime of the Cowboys’ contest against the Razorbacks. And those familiar with O’Neal echo the sentiment that it’s been a long time coming. Because O’Neil, in many ways, allowed college football to evolve.
He played with some of the most storied defensive players in OSU history. John Washington, Warren Thompson, Rodney Harding and O’Neal made up the trenches. Matt Monger and James Spencer were the stellar linebacker tandem. Mark Moore, Chris Rockins, Rod Brown and Rod Fisher compiled the secondary.
Nearly three decades of combined NFL experience among the aforementioned bunch. Still, O’Neal shined.
Many wonder how an under-the-radar recruit from Little Rock, Arkansas, surged into the college football limelight so swiftly and dominated most of his opposition. Others, however, anticipated it.
“I just remember him from a distance,” OSU head coach Mike Gundy said. “I’ve learned a lot about him through (former head coach Pat) Jones – my coach. And they’ve talked about him, and how dominant of a player and a person (he is), and what kind of work ethic he had.
“You just couldn’t block him.”
O’Neal was a two-time All-American at OSU and the Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year in 1984. He garnered All-Big 8 honors during his final three seasons in Stillwater. That resulted in a first-round selection by the San Diego Chargers in 1986, leading to a 12-year career in the NFL.
“Just a great player, and he had how many years in the NFL? Twelve?” Gundy said. “Playing in the position he plays, multiple years in the NFL is tough. Just a great player.”
Brett McMurphy, a college football insider for Action Network, graduated from OSU in 1985. Working for The O’Colly and OSU communications as a student, McMurphy witnessed O’Neal’s storied college career firsthand. The grit, the immense talent and the humbleness all in one.
In an era where juggernaut running backs – Thomas, Sanders, Auburn’s Bo Jackson, Georgia’s Herschel Walker, Florida’s Emmitt Smith and Nebraska’s Jarvis Redwine – headlined college football, O’Neal stood out.
At the time, offensive schemes centered on the run game and quarterbacks threw substantially fewer passes. And yet, O’Neal managed a school record 34 career sacks, including 16 – also a school record – in 1984.
“The fact that his stat numbers match up, if not top the guys’ from today’s game, is just remarkable,” McMurphy told The O’Colly. “I don’t think many people realize how remarkable something like that is.”
But in high pressure moments, O’Neal showed his worth. And you wouldn’t know it through a postgame interview.
“You’d have to talk to his teammates to realize just how big each play he made was,” McMurphy said. “It was, in some ways, remarkable. He didn’t like to talk about himself a lot.”
Thus, the humble legend of O’Neal was born. Quiet, but effective. Silent, but deadly.
“Leslie, he was always really quiet,” McMurphy said. “He didn’t brag a lot. He didn’t boast a lot, like some guys. He just did his business on the field, and that was that. He was kind of like a butting law professor or a doctor with his glasses on.”
OSU wasn’t a perennial college football power. The Cowboys rarely cracked the top 10 and seldom received the benefit of the doubt in marquee matchups. But O’Neal, in McMurphy’s words, was “too good to overlook.”
“Everyone knows how awards work – the really good players on the better teams are the ones who get honorees,” McMurphy said. “That is, unless someone is having such a crazy, super good, insane season, where you just can’t ignore somebody. And that’s how it was with Leslie.”
Some find irony in OSU’s date for O’Neal’s inductive. An Arkansas native receiving a prestigious program honor amid his alma mater clashing with his hometown school. What more could one ask for?
“Kind of fitting that it’s for the Arkansas game,” McMurphy said. “Might have to find out if that was on purpose or just coincidental timing.”
Few have neared O’Neal’s 34 sacks. Until this year.
After one sack in OSU’s Week 1 win against South Dakota State, linebacker Collin Oliver, who has 23.5 career sacks at OSU, is 10.5 sacks away from the record.
Logging more than 10 sacks in a season is a tall task. But it's a feat Oliver has attained. As a freshman in 2021, Oliver recorded 11.5 sacks.
When asked about the possibility of surpassing O’Neal’s career-sack total, Oliver, of course, chose the humble route.
“I know a good amount about (O’Neal),” Oliver said. “Yeah, (the sack record) is in the back of my head, but ultimately, I just want to win games.
“It’d be a cool deal. I ain’t gonna lie. When that time does come, it will be a very cool deal. Especially knowing how long that record (has been) held… but he’s loved here in Stillwater.”
Shining light on others. Similar to how O’Neal operated.
As the old saying goes, records are meant to be broken. Sure, a beloved figure on the active roster eclipsing the record-total of a program legend would be cool for Stillwater folks and OSU fans. And Oliver isn’t alone in highlighting the hypothetical magnitude that would come tied to attaining such a feat. But Saturday is about O’Neal. Oliver made that clear, too.
Oliver likely won’t break O’Neal’s record against the Razorbacks. But perhaps the Cowboys’ defense – Oliver included – could record a multitude of sacks against a respected SEC opponent and make for a fitting return for an OSU legend.
“As far as former players that were dominant here, (O’Neal) was as dominant defensively as Barry (Sanders) and Thurman (Thomas) were offensively,” Gundy said. “It’s just a position that people talk about a lot. But (he was a) great player.”
sports.ed@ocolly.com
