We all could use some good news after the last week and a half or so, and Oklahoma running back Najee Bissoon rose to the occasion.
When an anti-Black Lives Matter protester was threatening people on the Sooners’ campus with hate speech, Oklahoma assistant director of summer programs Steven J. Lee was sent out to help diffuse the situation. Instead, Lee saw Bissoon stand next to the man and counter his hateful words with a megaphone.
Lee sent a note about it to Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, who shared it on Twitter on Thursday:
“I wanted to let you know that I believe this campus was made better today by the actions of Najee Bissoon. I was asked by a supervisor to go to the south oval and help with a situation that had started to gain attention. When I arrived, I watched a hate speech spreading man start attacking our students and trying to incite a riot. While other students stood by (and) watched or joined in a shouting match with (the) man, Najee stepped up, grabbed a megaphone and spread a message of togetherness with all his fellow students. He stood next to the despicable man and counter-argued everything he tried to say with a calm and collected attitude. After Najee had showed that our campus would not be torn apart, the man decided to pack up and leave while being escorted by campus police.”
An editor for OU Daily, the school’s newspaper, captured video of Bissoon’s speech. (If you have young ears around, Bissoon drops an F-bomb in the video.)
Bissoon led a prayer circle after the man left, something students of all faiths seemed to appreciate based on his Twitter mentions.
And after all was said and done, Bissoon left his Twitter followers with a message.
Thumbnail photo via Joshua S. Kelly/USA TODAY Sports Images
