Jayden Gibson TCU Interview
Watch Sooners wide receiver Jayden Gibson meet the press after Oklahoma's 69-45 win over TCU in the Sooners' season finale on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023.
Transcript
00:00 dragging that guy into the end zone of this ballgame?
00:04 - You feel me?
00:04 This is football play.
00:06 My team needed me and, you know what I'm saying,
00:10 get more opportunities.
00:11 Seven, seven, six, seven.
00:13 Hey, Mr. Philco, six, seven.
00:15 At the beginning of the game,
00:16 and I want to go up by a score.
00:18 Just be able to get the, put the spark for the team,
00:21 you know what I'm saying?
00:22 To spark us off, to get our momentum going.
00:24 I feel like it was really big,
00:25 so it was really a cool moment for sure.
00:26 And my parents and stuff was here.
00:28 My girl came back, even though they was all gone
00:30 for Thanksgiving, they came.
00:32 They flew in this morning to watch me play and stuff,
00:34 and played pretty good.
00:35 So that's all the glory be got.
00:38 - Were you surprised that he was still
00:39 kind of hanging on there?
00:40 'Cause it looks like you started to celebrate
00:42 just a little bit before you got to the end zone.
00:43 - Oh no, that was on purpose, I ain't gonna lie.
00:45 (laughing)
00:46 I'm gonna keep it a bug, just be real.
00:47 That was on purpose.
00:48 I knew I wasn't in the end zone yet,
00:49 but it was just like, I know he's not gonna tackle me,
00:51 so might as well just start early.
00:53 Start celebrating a little early, you know what I'm saying?
00:54 Really just to juice my team up.
00:56 I know they like, I feel like I bring
00:57 that dog mentality, you know what I'm saying?
01:00 The grimy type guy to the team.
01:01 I just wanna play ball.
01:03 I wanna play ball.
01:04 Football to me is dirty, it's tenacious,
01:06 you know what I'm saying?
01:07 It's a real physical, nasty game.
01:09 So when I'm on the field, I feel like
01:10 it's almost like I'm a different person.
01:12 So in doing that, and celebrating early,
01:14 I'm telling my team, man, they can't mess with us, bro.
01:16 They not even supposed to be out here with us,
01:18 so let's just go out and do what we supposed to do.
01:20 69 points offensively, I feel like,
01:22 that's big for itself, so.
01:23 Or 62 points offensively, pick six.
01:25 So 62 points on the offense, I feel like
01:27 that's a pretty good day, you know what I'm saying?
01:29 And I'm just glad I got to be a part of that
01:31 and spark it off.
01:32 - A lot of deep balls today, what'd you like
01:34 about the game plan against that man-to-man defense?
01:36 - I thought that should be the game plan every week, bro.
01:38 Like, I don't really think it too much matter
01:39 what defense you're on.
01:40 We got me, Andrew, Nick Anderson, like,
01:44 I don't think it really matter what defense you in.
01:45 If you throw the ball far enough,
01:46 we gonna beat the DB to it, for real.
01:48 So, I just think that Coach Levy is just starting
01:51 to see that we just, he can trust us,
01:53 you know what I'm saying?
01:54 A lot of these things take time, like,
01:55 for him to be able to really trust in the calls
01:57 and, you know what I'm saying,
01:58 call everything that he wants to call,
01:59 'cause it's on us to come to practice every day
02:01 and prove to him that we are the players
02:03 that he recruited us to be, you know what I'm saying?
02:04 So he can call as freely as he wants to.
02:06 And I think, going into this week,
02:08 he was just thinking, "Hey, I trust my guys.
02:10 "We've been going hard all season,
02:12 "so we gonna throw it up there and see what happens."
02:14 And it paid off, and I think that going
02:16 to whatever game we get to play next,
02:18 that's a really good step in our offense
02:20 and really good confidence booster for a lot of guys,
02:22 as well, you know what I'm saying?
02:23 That rotated and they got to play today.
02:25 And I just think today was an all-around positive day
02:27 for offensively, and I just, you know what I'm saying,
02:30 grateful to Coach Leb and Coach V for just putting all of us
02:32 in that position to be able to succeed.
02:35 - Will a defender drag your jersey like that before?
02:38 Like, he was pulling that for a few.
02:39 - No, I ain't never had no one drag my jersey like that,
02:42 and he ripped my shirt.
02:43 He ripped, like, my whole shirt was ripped
02:44 for the rest of the game.
02:45 But I ain't never really had no score like that.
02:47 That was different, like, dragging a guy on his back type.
02:51 So that was cool, you know what I'm saying?
02:52 I just want to do more and do better.
02:55 - What's your plans for watching football
02:57 the next two days?
02:58 - Oh, I probably won't watch no football.
03:00 It's a Raw Wave concert.
03:01 It's a Raw Wave concert tonight, sir.
03:02 I'm going to be at the Raw Wave, Raw Wave, you know who that is?
03:05 I'm going to be at the Raw Wave concert tonight,
03:07 and then tomorrow I'm going to sleep,
03:08 because God got us.
03:11 I don't need to go watch.
03:12 I already played against Texas and Hokie State,
03:14 and I already watched seven, eight games of film,
03:17 each, for when we had to play them.
03:18 So I don't need to watch it no more.
03:20 I'll be able to look up the score in the morning,
03:21 and from that moment, I'll know what needs to happen next.
03:23 But I'm really just locked in.
03:25 Like, Coach V always has this focus on what we can control.
03:27 I can't control that.
03:28 I control what I can control today,
03:30 you know what I'm saying?
03:31 The team control what we control today.
03:32 So I hope no one goes home and is stressing
03:35 over the football game and watching
03:36 these other teams play.
03:37 Man, we did what we were supposed to do.
03:38 We came out here and we won, man.
03:40 People doubted us.
03:41 We lost two games in a row,
03:42 and people thought it was going to be over.
03:43 We was going to lose the rest of our games,
03:44 and all this stuff you see on social media.
03:46 And we overcame all that, man.
03:48 Just finished our season strong, two wins.
03:49 Got the 10 wins, got the double-digit wins
03:51 after we went six and seven last year.
03:53 Double-digit wins.
03:55 I think that's a testament, if nothing else,
03:56 to our great coaching, Coach Venables and Coach Leb.
03:59 And I feel like everyone should just,
04:00 has nothing to be sad about.
04:02 You know, do I want to go to the Big 12 Championship?
04:03 Of course, I'm a competitor.
04:04 And if we go to it, I'm going to do everything
04:06 in my power I can to help us win.
04:08 At the end of the day, man,
04:09 we don't got nothing to hang our heads about regardless,
04:10 'cause we fought through a lot this year.
04:12 We fought through a lot last year, man.
04:14 And we, it's like, it's so many people
04:16 that have like individual stories, like myself.
04:18 Like, we just, everybody individually overcame so much.
04:20 And then as a group, we all overcame so much.
04:22 So I feel like no one has anything
04:23 to hang their head about or be upset about, man.
04:25 We went out, like, we went out like uncommon men.
04:28 You know what I'm saying?
04:29 In the regular season, man.
04:29 69 points.
04:31 - What does it say about him?
04:33 He was in professional protocol until yesterday.
04:35 When he comes out, throws 400 yards,
04:37 he'll touch down his total.
04:39 - He's a dog, man.
04:40 I've been saying ever since I got to do my first interview,
04:43 after Arkansas State, like, he just,
04:44 a guy that you just want to follow, like,
04:46 someone that just gets the team going
04:48 and someone that just is, I ain't gonna lie, he's a vet.
04:50 Like, he's been doing it for so long.
04:51 He's a vet, man.
04:52 And I don't think there's really nothing
04:54 that could have stopped him from playing this week.
04:56 Just like people don't know,
04:57 last year when he was going through hurt,
04:59 he was still trying, like, it was literally like,
05:01 what, a day decision, like, okay, he can't play.
05:03 But he's trying, doing everything he can
05:04 to be able to get back, right?
05:05 And he's always been that guy.
05:06 So I wasn't surprised.
05:08 And I wasn't surprised that he did what he did.
05:09 'Cause like I said, he's a soldier.
05:10 So it don't matter how hurt you are, broken up,
05:13 once you get stepped on that field,
05:14 all that goes out the window.
05:15 You gotta put your best foot forward and that's what he did.