"Some Things You Don't Forget": CU Buffs on Mike Gundy using a racial slur against them in 1989

31 years later, the story of Mike Gundy allegedly using racial slurs towards Colorado Buffaloes football players is more relevant than ever.

The 1989 Colorado Buffaloes are in the news. 

A special team that started the best run in CU football history. 

But they are in the news for a different type of change. 

They are a national story part of the ongoing fight against racism, especially in college football. 

On Monday, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy was in the news for sporting an OAN (One America News) t-shirt while fishing over the weekend. His star running back Chuba Hubbard called it, "Completely insensitive to everything going on in society, and it is unacceptable."

OAN is a news channel that has had pundits and hosts some racially charged opinions as well as a denouncement of the  Black Lives Matter Movement. 

Gundy has since apologized for wearing the shirt and he has had multiple meetings with his team to try and move in a positive direction. 

But incidents from Gundy's past have indicated this is not an isolated incident. 

There have been players speaking out against Gundy including forever Buff Arlington Hambright who transferred from Oklahoma State before the 2019 season. 

And this is where the 1989 CU Buffs come in. 

On Wednesday, Shannon Sharpe was discussing on his show Undisputed his recollection of the 1989 game between Oklahoma State and Colorado. Sharpe did not play in the game but he had heard the stories from players who did. 

In fact, Sharpe called Alfred Williams to hear his side of the story. 

"I said, 'Tell me about an incident that happened in '89, I think it was '89.' He said, 'Well Mike Gundy?' I said, 'Yeah how'd you know I was talking about him.' He said, 'He called me an N.'"

According to Sharpe, Williams told Sharpe that he sacked him and he dropped the racial slur. Williams talked to his running back and told him to have a talk with Gundy. And 'Big Al' didn't hear anything from Gundy for the rest of the game. 

Williams recounted the story a little bit differently on his radio show.

It happened near the end of the game because what happened was, it was a situation — I don’t if it was a sack or just a hard hit — but I know that I was getting off the huddle and he started running off the field and he called me the N-word. So I start running after him, right? I was like, ‘This is not done.’ He said it to me and I couldn’t believe. So we come to the sideline. My coach at the time was Bob Simmons, who was eventually the head football coach at Oklahoma State. He tells me, ‘You’re done for the day.’ I say, ‘Oh no, I’m not done for the day.’ He says, ‘You’re done for the day.’ I just went nuts on the sideline and that was pretty much it.

After the game, several players had mentioned the incident and reporters confirmed with Williams that the incident had occurred. Gundy denied it after the game. 

"I didn't say anything like that," Gundy told the Tulsa World after the game. "I've been here four years and half my friends are black. I would never say that."

.@ShannonSharpe discusses his call with Alfred Williams, who was reportedly on the receiving end of a racial comment made by Mike Gundy when they were both college players in 1989 pic.twitter.com/EFIPxVrjdi

— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) June 17, 2020

Sports Illustrated Pokes Report publisher Robert Allen remembers the incident as he covered the game for KFOR-TV. 

He spoke with the Oklahoma State head coach at the time, Pat Jones. 

"(Gundy) said, 'Coach, you should have heard what they were saying to me. What they were saying about my mother,'" Jones said as Gundy denied it as he did in the media.

"I sent a note back to (CU President at the time Gordon) Gee telling him that he might want to worry about the language his player were using about our quarterback's mother. I'll tell you what it was, and Robert you know about this, it was bottom of the pile gutter talk."

Gee had sent a note to Jones that he should talk to his quarterback about using the offensive word.

Kanavis McGhee, Tim James, Williams and other CU players alleged the incident occurred to reporters after the game. 

James says it wasn't just once. 

"I can't count the number of times that he used that word," James told the media after the game. "He has no class. There's no place for that in sports."

But it got pushed under the rug at the time. Now, with Gundy under the limelight again for racial issues, the incident has resurfaced and is not going away. 

Williams on his radio show was a little disappointed it has only become a big deal 31 years later. 

All of my teammates that played at the University of Colorado on the defense know exactly what happened. There’s no walking that back. This story’s been out there for 31 years. I don’t know why it came up now. Because he’s wearing an OAN T-shirt? OK, but I’ve never told the story on air because it happened decades ago. But it happened, 100 percent it happened. That’s the only time in my life that that’s ever happened. In my life. I played football a long time. A lot longer than he played football. And that’s the only time it’s ever happened.

Multiple former CU players that were on the 1989 team have told BuffsCountry they remember the incident. Most have said they remember their teammates being upset about it. 

But like Alfred said, he was not the only one that heard Gundy drop the slur(s). 

"I was on the field at the time," one former player told BuffsCountry. "It’s been 30 years and some things you don’t forget. I’m quite sure there were other OSU players that could verify (Gundy's) behavior."

As the saying goes, where there is smoke there is usually fire.