Turkey Leg-Swinging OSU Fan Tells Backstory of How he Went Viral

Brenden Winters attended an Oklahoma State football home game in 2013 as an ordinary middle-schooler. He left it, unbeknownst to him, as one of the most legendary Cowboy fans to meet the modern internet.

And while the name may not ring a bell, his actions at the game in celebration of a score have stood the test of time, aging gracefully through several defensive and offensive coordinators, multiple starting quarterbacks, and a bevvy of other memeable OSU moments over the years.

Through it all, none compare with his turkey-leg swaying ways.

“I was in middle school, and OSU was playing Baylor,” he told me this week recalling the video. “It was in the fourth quarter, and we were up pretty big. I mean, my attention span was gone. So I had the turkey leg and my sister and I were bored making Vines. We scored, and I just told my sister I was going to start waving it. She started recording, and in a stroke of improv genius, I decided to take a bite of it. We didn’t think much of it after we posted it, it was just something stupid we were doing.”

Something silly in the moment resulted in several hundred thousand loops on Vine before the service shuttered, but it has since evolved into a go-to GIF on social media even outside the realm of OSU. (I can’t speak for the general Oklahoma State fanbase, but I personally have probably shared it on Twitter in the dozens of times.) He pulled the stunt on a Saturday but found out only days later he was going viral.

“I guess an overweight middle school kid waving around a piece of fried meat with a bowl cut is pretty funny,” Winters told me lightheartedly. “I only found out because of one of my coaches recognized me in the video on Facebook and brought it to my attention.”

The heartbreaking revelation of my talk with Winters is that the turkey leg experience was just a one-off. He’s not even a turkey leg guy. He recalls finishing off the snack, but it’s not his go-to food at Boone Pickens Stadium. In fact, it’s not his preferred food period.

“That was my first turkey leg and also my last,” he said. “It was OK, it just wasn’t my food item. Honestly, popcorn is my go-to stadium food. At Boone Pickens Stadium, it’s probably a Chick-Fil-A sandwich.”

Predictions

This is no normal year for college football. Oklahoma State has only 10 regular-season games on its schedule. But Winters, he has high hopes for what the Pokes can accomplish in those games.

“Having the majority of the starters returning is promising,” he said. “I’m trying to find the line of being too optimistic and being realistic.

“I think 8-2 is achievable,” he added. “Probably going to lose at Baylor and at OU. Those places seem to be our kryptonite.”

As for conference title hopes, he says “I think if we make it there, we might lose.”