Oklahoma

Oklahoma Kicker Tyler Keltner Has a Big Personality and Bigger Confidence

Published

2 years ago

September 4, 2024

Oklahoma Kicker Tyler Keltner Has a Big Personality and Bigger Confidence

NORMAN — Oklahoma kicker Tyler Keltner has a boyish face and a slight frame.

But his personality belies his appearance, projecting through and overpowering any preconceived notions that he looks “young” or “small.”

And yet, his confidence, his humility and his right leg are even bigger than any of that.

That became evident on Friday night, when Brent Venables called on Keltner to kick a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter, and Keltner calmly stepped up and drove it right down Main Street. It was the Sooners’ first 50-yarder in three years, but for Keltner, it was no big deal.

“You might not believe me,” Keltner said after practice Monday, “but I get more nervous watching kickers on TV than me when I’m kicking by myself. When it’s me out there in a game, there’s a certain calmness that comes through.

“I think it’s just everybody practicing. I’m just so confident in everybody and confident in what I do. I go out there and it’s just like, pure bliss watching people on TV kick. … I’m like, ‘What are they going to do? How’s their operation? And they’ve been practicing? What are they doing?’ But when it’s us and when it’s me, it’s just the best feeling in the world.”

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Keltner is OU’s first-ever SEC Player of the Week, landing the league’s special teams accolades a perfect night with three field goals and six PATs.

Friday night in front of 80,000 citizens of Sooner Nation was a big, big step for Keltner, who beat out two-year starter Zach Schmit for the job. In four years as the starting kicker at East Tennessee State, he never saw a crowd like the one that watched OU beat Temple 51-3. Even last year, when he kicked one just PAT for Florida State — late in a November home victory over North Alabama — the announced attendance at Doak Campbell Stadium was 79,560, and most of them had cleared out by the time he lined up for the extra point.

“It’s just nice to be playing again through all the waiting, then all the work in the last two years,” Keltner said. “I truly feel like I’ve gotten a little bit better over the last two years. It’s just fun to go out there and just have fun with it again.”

He left a four-time All-Southern Conference career at ETSU to join his hometown Seminoles, but he couldn’t beat out Ryan Fitzgerald. So he hit the transfer portal one more time, landing in Norman with all the confidence in the world.

That confidence only grew once he got to OU. Keltner said a preseason training camp visit from Sooners linebacker legend Teddy Lehman gave everyone a fresh perspective, specifically how all the work they’ve put in starting in January means the 2024 season is already halfway over.

“When I think about how much work we’ve put in, how much running, kicking, all this and that, why wouldn’t I come out and feel some sort of confidence in all of that?” Keltner said. “It’d be disrespectful to the team and the university if I didn’t.”

Keltner was similarly grateful to get to play last year for the Seminoles. He grew up in Tallahassee rooting for FSU, and as the ‘Noles went undefeated last year, he got great joy out of it.

“That was a great team to wait on kicking for,” he said. “So I had a good time. I learned a lot about myself and my routine. I just really learned about my love for the game again. So just to get back and show all that again is such an unreal experience.”

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To listen to Keltner talk about college football, and OU football in particular, is to hear a young man who is is humbled by his good fortune in life.

“Just hearing guys talk about this field has been here for 100 years,” he said. “Seriously, that gives me goosebumps right now because I can’t fathom that. That was when my great-grandparents were being born. Like, come on.

“When you think about how many people stepped on this field and put their best foot forward and represented OU, that humbles me almost instantly. So I can walk out here and feel comfortable knowing that I’m representing them and I’ve got to put my best forward to honor that.”

Keltner beat out Schmit in a competition that was “as close as it can be,” he said. “I think me coming in here helped him and I think seeing how good he was, it helped me out. It really was an iron sharpening iron situation.”

“Just, there’s a body of work, and not just the training camp,” Venables said after the game Friday. “There’s the summer, there’s the spring, it’s a body of work, and he’s shown with his career he’s getting in the games, he made most of them, and so he had a good track record that way. But Zach had a great camp too, and as I said it, we went in, just made a decision, ‘This is what we were going to do.’ And, you know, glad for Tyler stepping up and executing. Really nice job in his debut.”

Keltner also gained an appreciation for Schmit’s ball-striking consistency and the power in Schmit’s right leg, which produced seven touchbacks among his 10 kickoffs.

“I was just telling somebody earlier that I’m not sure if I would have had the night I had if Zach Schmit didn’t have the night that he had,” Keltner said. “I mean talk about 10 kickoffs — we scored 10 times. That doesn’t happen too often. … When you have 10 kickoffs, that’s going to destroy anybody’s leg, especially if you’re doing both. So props to him. He’s such a massive, massive support beam for this team. We’re both just doing what we can to help this team out.”

While Keltner’s 50-yard missile was probably the most fun kick he had last week, the most stressful was a PAT on which the snap was inside and the hold was dropped. But holder Josh Plaster still gathered the ball and got it down just enough for Keltner to slap it through.

“Let’s thank soccer for that one,” Keltner said. “I’ve played soccer for a long time, and in those moments, when you walk out under these lights, your natural instincts coming out. The lights are on, there are fans in the crowd and everybody kinda blacks out a little bit.

“Soccer in my background, that has a lot to do with it.”

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma teacher turns PB&J’s into a lifeline for students

Published

12 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma teacher turns PB&J’s into a lifeline for students

OKLAHOMA CITY –

Teaching is easily one of the most challenging and rewarding professions anywhere. And while most deserve to be recognized, when we heard about Deanne Strothers, we had to come meet her.

The Harding Charter Prep teacher has been teaching life through math for 30 years.

“My goal is to make them understand that they can get through tough stuff,” said Strothers.

But seven years ago, there was some tough stuff put on her plate that was really tough to swallow.

“I had kids that would come in, and they didn’t have any. They didn’t have a lunch card, so they couldn’t eat,” said Strothers.

She recalls one student in particular, at a previous school.

“She came in, and she’s like, I’m hungry,” said Strothers.

After giving the student the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she had brought for lunch, Strothers made a decision: as long as she was teaching, no child would go hungry.

“And so, I’m like, I’ve got to get something that is universal, and we landed on peanut butter and jelly,” said Strothers.

So, for the past seven years, each night she and her husband have prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, totaling over 30,000 sandwiches.

It’s always grape jelly, you don’t have to be in any of her classes and the sandwiches are typically gone before 9 a.m.

“I would rather have a well-fed child than a child sitting here, not having the capability to really pay attention because they are hungry,” said Strothers.

As word spread of her personal feeding program, it prompted a visit from Oklahoma’s Secretary of Education, Dan Hamlin, who didn’t come empty-handed.

“Well, we wanted to give you a check for supplies,” said Hamlin.

“I think it’s incredibly important that we recognize the great work that our teachers are doing across the state,” said Hamlin.

“I’ll keep doing this as long as I am teaching,” said Strothers.

As expected, Mrs. Strothers says she will use the check for more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The $250.00 donation will paY for about one semester of sandwiches.

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Oklahoma

Two state senators are stalling Clemishire bill in Oklahoma; victims are asking why

Published

1 day ago

May 13, 2026

Press Room

Two state senators are stalling Clemishire bill in Oklahoma; victims are asking why

Convicted felon Robert Morris — a megachurch pastor who abused 12-year-old Cindy Clemishire in 1982 — walked out of an Oklahoma prison in the early hours of March 31.

But time is running out to get legislation aimed at helping abuse victims such as Clemishire — and a bill named for her unanimously passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives— to Gov. Kevin Stritt’s desk.

The Cindy Clemishire Act, HB 4227 would eliminate Oklahoma’s statute of limitations for prosecuting child sexual abuse and prohibit the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in related settlement cases.

The NDA provision is also known as “Trey’s Law” in remembrance of Trey Carlock, who was sexually abused at Camp Kanakuk, a Christian retreat in the Ozarks. Part of his legal settlement included a restrictive NDA that prohibited him from speaking about his abuse or Kanakuk’s role.

Carlock died by suicide, aged 28, after having told a therapist, “they will always control me, and I’ll never be free.”

Your tax-deductible gift supports our mission of reporting the truth and restoring the church. Donate $50 or more to The Roys Report, and you can elect to receive our featured offer, “Kiss and Tell: The Innocent Moment That Shattered Mark Driscoll’s Cult” by Vince Manuele – click here.

Cindy Clemishire, pictured in 2024. (Courtesy Photo)

Yet for unknown reasons, the Oklahoma Senate’s leadership hasn’t yet brought the measure to the floor, and the legislative session is slated to end this Thursday (May 14).

“I’ve just been told they’re not going to hear it. No reason,” Oklahoma state Sen. Darrell Weaver (R-Moore) told online news outlet NonDoc.com on May 5. “I am baffled. Disappointed and baffled.”

Apparently standing in the way are state Sens. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, the Senate floor leader, and Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, Senate pro tempore. Daniels, according to the NonDoc.com report, won’t schedule a hearing for the bill, and Paxton reportedly is deferring to her on the matter.

The Roys Report (TRR) has contacted Daniels and Paxton for comment, as well as state Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore. None immediately responded.

In a statement, Clemishire admonished Oklahoma lawmakers to get the bill passed.

robert morris court — On Sept. 4, 2025, Robert Morris enters his vehicle as he leaves the Osage County Courthouse in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. (Photo: Sheila Stogsdill

“For decades, predators like Robert Morris have hidden behind outdated laws to evade justice, but the time for silence is over. To the members of the Oklahoma Senate: you have the power to ensure no other child is forced into the shadows, but your work is not done until these protections are sent to the governor,” she said.

Elizabeth Phillips, sister of Trey Carlock and founder of No More Victims, was also emphatic about the need for passage.

“Predators rely on silence and time–the law shouldn’t reward either,” said Phillips. “We are calling on Oklahoma Senate leadership to stand with survivors by ending the forced silence imposed on them by NDAs, like the one that silenced my brother to his grave, and remove the criminal statute of limitations for child sex crimes just as 44 other U.S. states have done. Please, don’t let the clock run out on survivors.”

Oklahoma is one of six states — along with the U.S. House of Representatives — where measures aiding victims of clergy sexual abuse have been filed. Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and West Virginia are the others where legislation has been introduced.

In 2025, similar legislation was enacted in Texas, Missouri, California, and Tennessee, while Alabama and Georgia did so this year.

Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.