How a trip to San Diego bonded Cowboys’ QB, WRs
STILLWATER — Though none of them could recall the name of the establishment, Oklahoma State receivers Blaine Green, Jaden Bray and Rashod Owens were in agreement that the restaurant they visited just outside San Diego produced the best Italian food any of them had ever eaten.
Owens took it a step farther. “That was one of the
best food places I’ve ever tasted in my life,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “This bread they had was amazing. Everything about that place was spot-on. If I could remember the name, I would recommend it five times out of five.”
Brennan Presley and De’Zhaun Stribling were also on the trip, which was organized by new quarterback Alan Bowman. He connected with Pokes with a Purpose, the OSU name, image and likeness collective, to fund the trip.
Bowman was heading out to work with his personal quarterback coach, George Whitfield, during an off period in the Cowboys’ summer schedule, but a receiver coach was available to train any wideouts who could come as well.
The primary purpose of the trip was football, and the six who went hope to see those gains on the field this fall.
“Going into the season, you wanna be on page with your quarterback,” Bray said Saturday at OSU’s football media day. “You want to know how he wants things, how he expects us to come out of a break, it’s big to know what he’s thinking when he’s throwing the ball. It was well worth it making the trip out to San Diego.”
But the ancillary benefit was the experience of spending five days with friends and teammates in an Airbnb, the beach a few minutes in one direction and the luxuries of greater San Diego in the other.
“It was fun,” Bray said. “It was just the guys out there, so we got to experience a lot of things. We got to learn a lot about each other. We would go eat together. We were real close to the beach.
“That Italian restaurant, they brought out all these foods for us. It was amazing.”
A memorable experience, considering half the group had never been to San Diego before.
A valuable experience, because it provided intense workouts and discussions to build the connection between the receivers and their potential starting quarterback (coach Mike Gundy remained adamant that he won’t name a starter until mid-August).
“We went with (Bowman) to the quarterback trainer and combined our sessions with the wide receiver trainer, so we could see what he’s looking for on certain reads, how we run certain routes,” said Green, a redshirt sophomore who was injured all of last season. “It definitely helped, especially with him being a new quarterback here. We were there all spring with him, but that trip got us connected on a deeper level.”
With the exception of Stribling, who transferred from Washington State in January, the OSU receivers have spent virtually all of their careers catching passes from four-year starter Spencer Sanders, who is now at Ole Miss. So learning the traits of the incoming transfer via Texas Tech and Michigan could only help. Understanding his vision, his timing, his expectations.
“You gotta build that connection and the camaraderie with your quarterback,” said Presley, the Cowboys’ leading returning receiver. “When you got a quarterback like Spence who’s been there for four years, you gotta break habits, learn your new quarterback’s tendencies and all that. I think it was very important to learn that and spend a lot of time with him.”
In addition to on-field work, the players did strength training, some of which took place on the beach.
And after the workouts came relaxation time — and, of course, Italian food.
“Best Italian food I’d ever had,” Green said. “It was a great night, enjoying it with the guys. But other than that, just being at the crib, talking — it was just the little things, the brotherly love that we had on that trip was my favorite part.”