Texas defensive end Breckyn Hager is definitely a character. The son of All-American linebacker Britt Hager, still the UT record-holder for career tackles, Hager is a philosophy major who vowed not to cut his hair until Texas wins the Big 12 championship. Wearing his long blonde locks in Willie Nelson-style braids, the senior defensive end played through an elbow injury to record a key sack in No. 15 Texas’s 24-10 win over No. 16 Iowa State on Saturday night, helping Texas take a major step toward a conference title and himself toward a much-anticipated haircut.
With the win, Texas now just needs to beat Kansas to clinch a berth in next Saturday’s Big 12 Championship, where they would meet the winner of Friday night’s game between Oklahoma and West Virginia. Clearly feeling himself in the glow of victory, Hager conducted his post-game press availability in pads, Aviator-style sunglasses and a cowboy hat, where he dished on any topic that came up.
Including Oklahoma.
Here’s how his post-game chat concluded, according to the Dallas Morning News:At the conclusion of his roughly five-minute postgame media session, Hager emphatically got up from his chair and walked away. One reporter then informed Hager that Kansas dropped 40 points during its 15-point loss to No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday night in Norman.
“Hey, OU has no defense,” Hager turned around and said.
He then pointed at a nearby clock and offered one last sobering thought from his perplexing postgame session.
“And what time is it?” Hager said. “It’s 11:12...and OU still sucks.”
On Monday, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby issued a public reprimand for Hager’s comments.
“Breckyn Hager violated the Conference rule that prohibits coaches, student-athletes, athletic department staff and university personnel from making negative comments about other member institutions for his remarks about the University of Oklahoma,” said Bowlsby. “This is Mr. Hager’s second violation of the Conference sportsmanship rules and therefore, he is receiving a public reprimand and will be expected to issue a public apology for his inappropriate comments.”
The reprimand comes amid a crackdown of extracurricular activities by the Big 12. West Virginia was flagged twice for unsportsmanlike conduct upon doing the ‘Horns Down’ motion during their Nov. 3 win over Texas.
Hager’s apology should be interesting, but not as interesting as the play in the trenches should Texas and OU rematch next Saturday.
Update: Hager has issued his apology.
Breckyn Hager releases a statement about his comments following Saturday's win over Iowa State: pic.twitter.com/YArRlkHaKV
— HornSports (@HornSports) November 19, 2018