Oklahoma
2024 Pro Bowl: Former Oklahoma star QB Baker Mayfield named offensive MVP
The 2023 NFL season was a memorable one for Baker Mayfield, the former Oklahoma standout and 2017 Heisman Trophy winner.
Though it wasn’t in an official game, he wrapped up that run with one final highlight on Sunday.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, who played at Oklahoma from 2015-17, was named the offensive MVP of Sunday’s Pro Bowl in Orlando, Florida after he helped guide the NFC to a 64-59 victory over the AFC.
REQUIRED READING: Mussatto: How Michigan’s Sherrone Moore showed flashes of head coach potential at OU
In the win, Mayfield threw for two touchdowns, one of which went to Dallas Cowboys wide receiver and fellow Sooner CeeDee Lamb to give the NFC a 55-53 lead near the end of the third quarter. Mayfield and Lamb played together for one season at Oklahoma, during Mayfield’s Heisman-winning 2017 campaign. That season, Lamb caught 46 passes for 807 yards and seven touchdowns.
If Sunday’s gaudy point total looks jarring, don’t worry — there’s a reason for it. The Pro Bowl switched last year to being a flag football game played on a 50-yard field.
Mayfield was appearing in his first Pro Bowl after being a late addition to the event, brought in to replace Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
He earned the distinction after completing arguably the best season of his six-year NFL career. In his first season with the Buccaneers, the former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick threw for a career-high 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns while helping lead Tampa Bay to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
He is widely considered to be one of the top free agent quarterbacks available this offseason.
In his three seasons at Oklahoma, Mayfield threw for 12,292 yards, 119 touchdowns and 21 interceptions while completing a program-record 69.8% of his passes.
Oklahoma
1 injured in I-40 rollover crash in OKC
One person was hurt in a crash Wednesday night along Interstate 40 in northeast Oklahoma City, according to police.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 26-year-old Jada Berry was driving on I-40 near Interstate 35 when her vehicle left the roadway and rolled over twice.
Berry was injured in the crash and taken to a local hospital. Her condition has not yet been released.
OHP says Berry was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. No charges have been filed at this time.
Troopers at the scene say no one else was in the car.
Oklahoma
New restaurants coming to OKC in 2026
In 2026, Oklahoma City’s food scene will continue to expand. From new locations of fan favorite Oklahoma restaurants to new fast food chains, here’s the food coming to OKC in 2026.
Tamashii Ramen House (Quail Springs)
After the success of other locations, the fourth Tamishii location will hit OKC in 2026. The new location will be located at Kilpatrick and Memorial, near Quail Springs.
This Japanese restaurant has various flavors of ramen, fried rice, gyoza, and much more.
Tamashii has three other locations across the state:
Bojangles
Two Bojangles are expected to open in 2026. These will be the fast food chain’s first locations in the state.
One restaurant is finishing construction at North Penn Avenue and West Memorial Road. This restaurant is set to open in early 2026. The other location will be near Interstate 240 and South Eastern Avenue in southeast Oklahoma City, and it has no timeline for its opening.
Bojangles specializes in Southern fried chicken and biscuits.
Papadeaux’s
The classic Cajun restaurant Papadeaux will soon have a restaurant in OKC. This restaurant’s opening will mark Oklahoma’s first Papaduex location, joining the more than 30 restaurants nationwide.
It is not known when this restaurant will open.
New restaurants brought flavors from different parts of the world to Oklahoma in 2025.
Oklahoma
Giant leg lamp lights up small Oklahoma town, turning a Christmas classic into a year-round attraction
Every holiday season, families flock to Main Street in Chickasha, Oklahoma, for its parade and dazzling light show. But it’s not just the brightly lit Christmas tree catching their attention — a nearly 50-foot-tall leg lamp is stealing the spotlight.
The giant statue, which officially reopened as a permanent attraction in November 2022, pays homage to the 1983 Christmas classic “A Christmas Story.” It’s inspired by one of the film’s iconic scenes, where Ralphie’s dad Mr. Parker gets the leg lamp as a “major award” for winning a newspaper crossword puzzle contest.
“When he pulled the leg lamp out of the box, I could not get that out of my mind. I mean, that was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen,” Tim Elliot, CEO of Standley Systems, a family-owned business technology company based in Chickasha, told “CBS Mornings.”
A few years ago, that scene made a lightbulb go off in Elliot’s head – put a giant leg lamp front and center on Main Street.
The Chickasha Festival of Light with its 3.5 million twinkle lights and 170-foot-tall Christmas tree has frequently been named one of the best light shows in the country, bringing more than 250,000 visitors each year. But Elliot wanted to add something special that would draw people to Chickasha year-round. So, he pitched the quirky idea at a meeting for economic development.
“I pulled the leg lamp out and set it on the conference table, and I said, ‘How about a 100-foot leg lamp at the end of Main Street?’”
Attendees laughed and shrugged off the idea, suggesting it was never going to happen. But Elliot was determined. He raised more than $1 million, and in 2021, the statue went up.
But like the movie, the lamp kicked off controversy.
Jim Cowan, Chickasha economic development director and president of the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce, said attorneys representing Warner Brothers sent a letter to the Chickasha Community Foundation that essentially read, “cease and desist, destroy it, tear it down.”
“We were very determined. We weren’t going to let that happen. That if we had to go and battle in the courts we would because we felt like we did things the right way,” Cowan said.
The group explained to Warner Brothers that they were not profiting off the lamp because they don’t charge admission, and a neighboring gift shop sells licensed products from the film. Elliot says the group hasn’t heard from the entertainment company in about a year and a half.
That’s good news for visitors – like John Prock from Washington, D.C., who drove from his parents’ house in Oklahoma to visit the giant leg lamp.
“My parents mentioned it, so I came down to visit them, and they said, ‘Well, while you’re here, let’s go see the leg lamp.’ So we literally hopped in the car, drove almost three hours to get here, and here we are,” Prock said.
The lamp has become a beacon for tourists and businesses.
“Tourism is at an all time high and a lot of that can be traced one way or another to a leg lamp,” Cowan said.
Chet Hitt grew up just 20 miles away before moving out west and becoming a successful business developer. Now, he’s back home – and has big plans, investing millions in the town.He has plans to develop a business park and renovate downtown, as more and more people come to town to see the lamp.
“You drive down this little town and you see kids playing and the community behind things and the support. It just really they buy into what’s here,” Hitt said, adding that he hopes to see continued growth in the town over the next decade.
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