Fried Chicken and Newspaper Feuds: How a Troy Restaurant inspired the ‘I’m a Man’ rant
September 22, 2007.
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy walks up to the podium for his postgame press conference, carrying a folded newspaper, and takes the mic.
The room falls silent as reporters realize his intentions.
The Cowboys had just knocked off an unbeaten Texas Tech with a last-minute touchdown, the highlight of the season so far.
It became quickly apparent that win was not the coach’s concern.
Instead, a furious Gundy ripped into a newspaper reporter, a quarterback controversy boiled over, and a meme was born.
This legendary rant stands alone in internet culture history as well as college football lore.
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State’s third-season head coach, became a household name as a loud-mouthed, intense man, willing to confront anyone in defense of his players—for better or for worse.
This moment, captured in glorious 240p, was just one moment in a season of chaos, the three-minute-19-second distillation of college football’s craziest year.
And it’s all because of a chicken joint in Troy, Alabama.
June 12, 1972.
Five years after and seven hundred miles from where Mike Gundy was born, a Louisiana man opened a fast-food chicken restaurant.
Named after a character from a film that won five Academy Awards, the restaurant exploded and became a national chain.
It was the foundation of a culinary empire, and afforded him a flamboyant lifestyle.
He owned racing teams… for power boats.
The Christmas lights display at his mansion became a tourist destination, featured on the Today show.
The man’s name was Al Copeland.
In the late 1990s, Copeland’s empire set its sights on New Orleans.
His new restaurant, the second in his “Straya” franchise, sat on St. Charles Avenue, blocks from old money mansions.
It was as gaudy as the man who owned it, which attracted the attention of those who lived inside the mansions.
One of those people was horror novelist Anne Rice, the woman behind “Interview with a Vampire.”
She took out a full-page ad in the Times-Picayune newspaper attacking Copeland and his restaurant.
Rice found a loud-mouthed, intense man, willing to confront anyone in defense of his empire.
Copeland fired back, once in the newspaper and once in court.
He sued Rice for libel.
The judge threw out the case, and Copeland changed the restaurant.
The newspaper feud fizzled out as soon as it exploded, and Copeland moved on with his life.
In 2006, his original chain opened a store in Troy, Alabama, less than two miles from Movie Gallery Stadium.
February 4, 2004.
Three years before Gundy’s Rant, a quarterback out of Houston, Texas, signed with the Cowboys.
The five-star recruit was getting comparisons to another Texas star, Vince Young, but according to Oklahoma State’s 24/7 site, the only competition he’d get was… himself.
For some reason, the site listed him twice: ranked No. 35 nationally and No. 124 nationally.
Right away, Bobby Reid was given the reigns to the offense.
He told ESPN Gundy said he was “the future of the program.”
Reid led the Cowboys to a 3-1 start in 2005, then lost it all after dislocating his toes against Missouri.
His mother Rajika rode the cart off the field with him.
He didn’t know yet, but this was strike one.
Gundy brought in a transfer from Denver, Zac Robinson, who started in the meantime.
When Reid returned, he got the start.
He even broke Gundy’s own record for most yards in a game against Kansas in 2006.
The next week, Reid got a concussion against ranked Texas A&M.
In his absence, Robinson threw three touchdowns, leading the team to a one-point overtime loss.
Strike two had the rumor mill spinning.
Reid came back in time for the Oklahoma game, but this time Gundy decided to use both quarterbacks.
It worked, putting them in striking distance with less than 10 minutes left.
It was decision time: Reid or Robinson?
That was nearly the final straw for Reid.
He went into Gundy’s office, furious over the decision.
Reid considered leaving, but offensive coordinator Larry Fedora got him to stick around one more year.
The Pokes were headed to the postseason, and this time he did get into the last game.
Bobby Reid led Oklahoma State to a win over Alabama in the Independence Bowl.
He went 15-for-29 with 212 yards, a go-ahead touchdown and an interception.
Robinson rushed for five yards. Reid picked up 34.
All seemed calm in Stillwater.
Reid found himself on the Manning Award watch list to start the next year.
The 2007 campaign got off to rocky start, a loss to top-15 Georgia.
Then the Cowboys welcomed a Sun Belt foe into T. Boone Pickens Stadium: Florida Atlantic.
Reid started the game, but he tweaked his knee and his ankle.
Strike three.
Reid walked into Gundy’s office the next Monday, ready for the next game.
It was too late.
Robinson was the starter, Reid was the backup.
He no longer had the reigns to the program.
Gundy, Fedora, Reid, and Robinson all boarded the plane to Alabama.
Reid’s mother Rajika got into a car and drove.
September 14, 2007.
Reid suited up for the Troy game, but he didn’t play a snap.
He joked on the sideline with his teammates and coaches.
He got mad, tossing his hat when plays didn’t go their way, and that happened often.
The Cowboys lost three fumbles, and Zac Robinson threw two interceptions.
Future first-round draft pick Leodis McKelvin returned a punt for a Trojan touchdown.
Troy led by 31 points going into the fourth quarter before letting off the gas.
The defending Sun Belt champions cruised to one of its biggest wins in school history, the Cowboys fell apart 41-23, and all Bobby Reid could do was watch.
After the game, he went over to the team area, where charter buses and hot food awaited.
His mom made her way to see her son.
Having driven for half of the past 24 hours and not eaten, she grabbed his meal.
Reid stepped away to take a phone call.
When he came back, his mom was talking with a man from the Oklahoman newspaper.
He grabbed a bite of chicken out of the box she held.
It came from the restaurant that made Al Copeland—an eccentric hothead known for his feud in the newspaper—famous.
Another Monday, another meeting in Gundy’s office.
Once again, Robinson was the starter.
That Saturday, he led the Cowboys, knocking off an unbeaten Texas Tech with a last-minute touchdown, the highlight of the season so far.
Earlier that day, Reid noticed all copies of The Oklahoman newspaper were missing.
After the game, the world found out why.
The sports section ran a column that day about the quarterback situation.
The woman who wrote it, Jenni Carlson, cited information from her colleague, who traveled to Troy the Friday before.
She wrote about a woman feeding her grown son chicken after a humiliating loss.
It laid out the Troy postgame meal in a different way, establishing Reid as a spoiled brat, who lost the job because of his attitude.
The column pointed to his injuries… and his sweaty palms.
It questioned his commitment to the program.
Gundy walked up to the podium with the only copy of The Oklahoman in the building.
He delivered a three-minute-19-second rant, ripping into the author of that column.
Once again, a Copeland restaurant was at the center of a newspaper feud.
This one sat on Highway 231 rather than St. Charles Avenue.
College football history and internet memes collided.
February 19, 2013
Oklahoma State’s 24/7 site reports Mike Gundy has hired Bobby Reid to his staff.
The previous six years have been a rollercoaster for Reid.
The rant hurt him, but he never discussed it with Gundy while he was on the team.
Reid worked through the rest of the season before packing his bags for Texas Southern.
Tulsa World reported the two eventually made up in 2012.
Reid went to work for OSU in 2013, left for SMU in 2015, and is now at a high school in Frisco, Texas.
The University officially responded “no comment” that year, and never touched the subject publicly again.
Zac Robinson became an Oklahoma State legend, and Gundy is still the head coach.
Carlson, who is still at the Oklahoman too, reflected on the rant ten years later.
Even the Popeyes in Troy is still there, surviving expansion in the area like a dandelion cutting through the concrete.
Like a grainy, 14-year-old YouTube video with millions of views.