One college football star is battling his greatest foe off the gridiron.
Amen Ogbongbemiga, a second-team All-Big 12 linebacker for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, claims to have been infected by coronavirus during a recent demonstration.
“After attending a protest in Tulsa and being well protective of myself, I have tested positive for COVID-19,” wrote Ogbongbemiga Tuesday on Twitter. “Please, if you are going to protest, take care of yourself and stay safe.”
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior, who was voted the team’s defensive MVP with 100 tackles after the 2019 season, was tested Monday after returning to campus for the upcoming season, reported ESPN.
Ogbongbemiga will be quarantined separately from the team and will be retested on Friday, an insider revealed to ESPN.
The linebacker will have contact tracking and will be monitored by the team’s doctor and training staff.
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy drew flak after an April 7 conference in which he said he was targeting a very early May 1 return date for his players. He also said that if a player or coach were to get coronavirus, he would be “quarantined just like we do people that get the flu.”
But four days later he said he was sorry for any perceived insensitivity.
“I have been made aware that comments from my press conference have offended some,” Gundy said in a prepared statement on April 11. “It was never my intention to offend anyone and I apologize. My first priority is and will always be the student-athletes and doing what is best for the program and the university.
The Cowboys finished the 2019 season 8-5 after losing to Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl.
Oklahoma has reported 343 deaths amid 6,427 reported COVID-19 cases, according to the CDC health tracker.
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