McKinley Whitfield headed to NY Giants mini camp

5/2/2019 |  Ben Johnson

Fort Coffee is headed for the big stage.

Wait, Fort Coffee? Where is that? Is it in Oklahoma?

It’s a town that might go unrecognized, outside of severe weather coverage in Oklahoma, but Fort Coffee sits in the Arkansas River bend near Skullyville and northeast of Spiro. Just find LeFlore County in far eastern Oklahoma, and it sits at the very northern tip of the county.

It’s where McKinley Whitfield has called home all his life.

Now Whitfield will fly the Fort Coffee flag proudly when he attends New York Giants mini camp.

“It means everything in the world to me to represent Spiro and Fort Coffee,” said Whitfield, a former standout at Spiro High School before playing college football at the University of Tulsa.

“I grew up there my whole life, and I just try my best to be a inspiration to all the younger kids there.”

Whitfield, measuring at 6 feet, 3 inches and 217 pounds, knows professional athletic endeavors don’t come along often for those growing up in Fort Coffee.

“Not many people from the area get changes like these,” he said, “so it’s a blessing.”

Whitfield, a safety by trade, recently watched the NFL Draft intently, hoping for his name to appear in the later rounds. But all seven rounds breezed by, despite a few draft boards mentioning Whitfield as a possible late-round candidate.

“It was very frustrating,” said Whitfield, who logged 264 tackles and 19 pass breakups during his collegiate career. “Everybody was thinking that I was going to get drafted, so I didn’t want to let anybody down. I just tried to keep myself busy during the whole process and be around my family.”

It didn’t take long for Whitefield to draw an invitation to New York’s minicamp, which begins this weekend.

“It feels good getting a chance to go play at the next level,” said Whitfield, who nabbed four interceptions while at Tulsa. “Of course I would rather have gotten drafted or a free agent deal, but it’s just more motivation for me.

Whitfield joins four other TU players as mini camp invitees. Justin Hobbs and Willie Wright will work out for the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns, respectively, and two other in-state talents, Tyler Bowling (Yukon) and Chandler Miller (Bixby), will try to earn a spot with the Atlanta Falcons.

Leading up to the draft, Whitfield never had much interaction with the Giants, chatting with the organization once while at a senior event in Texas. But now he gets a chance to prove Fort Coffee belongs in the NFL.

“I’ve always been a hard worker since I was a kid,” Whitfield said. “That definitely isn’t going to stop now.”

*Photo credit: University of Tulsa

PODCAST TIME! Wall to wall basketball and wrestling

2/28/2019 |  Ben Johnson

Medals and trophies have been handed out to wrestlers across the state. Now it’s time for basketball teams to start claiming hardware.

Ben and Michael dive into Class A & B state basketball tournaments on tap this week, and they guys also make their predictions in each class.

Ben breaks down what happened at the state wrestling tournament and some of the various highlights along the way. 

Also added a new segment where the guys named their MVPs of the week. Listen in and find out who they dubbed as last week’s MVPs.

All that leading up to Michael's interview with Okarche coach Ray West. You don't want to miss what West had to say.

Thanks for listening & enjoy!

Have any feedback? Email the show at ben@skordle.com

SKORDLE SAMPLER - Week 4 (2023) - Giuseppe's Revisited...Plus Notable Marlow Alumni

9/20/2023 |  Michael Swisher

Week 4 of the Oklahoma High School Prep Football Season has one of our SKORDLE Game of the Week crews traveling to Marlow as the Outlaws host Pauls Valley.

First of all...huge game. Both teams are undefeated and - once again - District 3A-2 looks to be super-competitive this year so the winner of this game gets a big leg up.

Off the field....

Marlow is home to some notable alumni - if you did not know - some of whom I have included in the list below.

Marlow is also home Giuseppe’s Italian Dining which has become one of the most famous restaurants in this part of Oklahoma.

Former Marlow Outlaw Autumn Davenport wrote THIS GUEST PIECE for the SKORDLE Sampler back in November 2019.

Enjoy! 

Notable Marlow Alumni: 

Joe Dial – Former World Record Holder in the Pole Vault in 1986, Bronze Medalist in the 1989 World Championships and 4-time NCAA National Champion at Oklahoma State.

Terry Brown – First native Oklahoman to score a touchdown in an NFL Super Bowl when he recovered a blocked punt for the Minnesota Vikings against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1975. The Steelers beat the Vikings 16-6 to win Super Bowl IX. 

Barry Hinson – Former Division I Men’s Basketball Coach at Southern Illinois, Missouri State and Oral Roberts. Coach Hinson was also Director of Basketball Operations for Bill Self at Kansas and currently works at Oklahoma State University. 

Sam Hinkie – General Manager of the NBA's Philadelphia 76’ers from 2012-2016

Keith Patterson – Current Head Football Coach of Division I Abilene Christian. Prior to AC, he was the Defensive Coordinator at Texas Tech and Arizona State among other schools.

Paul Sparks – Actor in hit TV shows Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards and Law & Order

SKORDLE SAMPLER - Week 3 (2023): Flour and Fennel Pizza

9/13/2023 |  Michael Swisher

How great is it that we are at this point of the football season where we now have the high school, college and NFL seasons all rocking and rolling?! 

I hope everyone is enjoying all the football almost every night of the week now. 

Here in Cashion, Oklahoma, it is homecoming week and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to introduce everyone to our new and awesome pizza place, Flour and Fennel. 

This local and homemade pizza has become very popular with locals and anyone who happens to be visiting our area. 

If you are visiting Cashion for a ballgame, school event, or just wanting to take a short drive out from the metro, I would highly recommend visiting Flour and Fennel for a great pizza eating experience. 

At Flour and Fennel, the star of the show for me is the crust! 

Their pizza dough is prepared fresh daily and they offer two different crust styles: New York and Detroit.