STILLWATER, Okla. – 

Ardmore, Oklahoma native and former Oklahoma State Cowboy wide receiver great, Justin Blackmon, returns to Boone Pickens Stadium this weekend. The Cowboys will face the Kansas State Wildcats in the Cowboys second to last home game of the 2025 football season. Oklahoma State will honor Blackmon by adding his name to the Cowboy Ring of Honor. It is more than well deserved. 

Oklahoma State would’ve loved to add a name like Justin Blackmon in a season that had more importance. Blackmon is, depending on who you ask, 1A or 1B in the hierarchy of former Oklahoma State wide receivers (the other 1A or B is probably Dez Bryant). Blackmon is one of two college wide receivers to win the Fred Biletnikoff Award twice. The Biletnikoff Award is given to the best wide receiver in college football. The other receiver to win the Biletnikoff twice is, former Big 12 and Texas Tech wide receiver, Michael Crabtree. 

Let’s break it down for those that were not fortunate enough to witness Justin Blackmon in person. 

Blackmon attended Plainview high school, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, where he was a four-sport star in football, basketball, baseball and track. I, personally, can attest to Blackmon’s basketball prowess. In November 2011, I was playing basketball in Oklahoma State’s student gym, the Colvin. There were a few guys running 5-vs-5 on the court next to my friend and I. They needed two more players for the next game. 

“Hey! Yall tryna run 5’s? We need two more”, yells Blackmon, from the court parallel to us. I’m 6’0ft. My friend is probably 5’9ft. We’re in decent shape, but in no shape or form college athletes. I was on the opposing team that Blackmon was on and received a poster dunk on my head that day from the two-time Biletnikoff winner. I’ll never forget it.  

Tangent aside, Justin Blackmon arrived in Stillwater in 2008, where he was redshirted as a true freshman. Blackmon became a starter in 2009. The next year, Blackmon was named the 2010 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, the first receiver to earn the honor. Justin was also awarded the Fred Biletnikoff Award that year and was recognized as a unanimous All-American.

In 2010, Blackmon recorded 111 receptions for 1,782 yards, while reaching the endzone 20 times. The all-star wide receiver helped the Cowboys reach an 11-2 record, with the only losses coming at the hands of Nebraska and against OU in Bedlam. Oklahoma State defeated Arizona in the Alamo Bowl that season, 36-10. 

Justin Blackmon had already cemented his legacy as a top receiver in Oklahoma State Cowboy history at the end of the 2010 season. He was already in the upper echelons of Oklahoma State greats. 

Blackmon’s 2011 season performance elevated him from the upper echelons to the greatest wide receiver Oklahoma State football has ever seen. And, while Blackmon’s numbers were better in 2010 than they were in 2011, it was the 2011 season where Blackmon made the clutch receptions and plays that live on in Oklahoma State fans’ minds. 

In the 2011 season, Justin Blackmon had 121 receptions for 1,522 yards and posted 100+ receiving yards in 7-of-13 Oklahoma State games. In the famous Kansas State – Oklahoma State “Earthquake Game”, Blackmon grabbed 13 catches for 205 yards and two touchdowns and was the most important player in the Cowboys victory that evening. He had 18 receiving touchdowns in the 2011 season and helped lead Oklahoma State to a 12-1 record. Losing only to Iowa State, in Ames, after a plane wreck decimated the Oklahoma State Women’s Basketball program earlier in the week. If not for that loss, Blackmon and Oklahoma State would’ve been national champions. You’ll never convince me otherwise. 

Blackmon headed to the NFL Draft after the 2011 season. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the fifth pick in the first round of that NFL draft. Unfortunately, Blackmon never panned out in the NFL, suffering from substance abuse issues involving alcohol. He may go down as one of the greatest receivers that never was. However, I am thankful that Oklahoma State has continued bringing him back to Stillwater.

The Cowboys have been prioritizing former Oklahoma State players and honoring them throughout the past few football seasons. Oklahoma State will be putting Justin Blackmon in the Cowboys Ring of Honor, where he belongs, on Saturday against Kansas State, forever memorializing his greatness as the best wide receiver in Oklahoma State Cowboy football history.