Big 12 Football: 50 best players of all-time
By Randy Gurzi
DB. Sooners . Derrick Strait. 31. player. 815.
Big 12 Football best players of all-time: 31. Derrick Strait, DB, Oklahoma football
As an NFL player, Derrick Strait played for three seasons before moving to Canada to try and make it in the CFL. That didn’t happen for him, and the fact that he never made it for long in the pros was a bit of a shock considering how good he was for the Sooners.
A four-year contributor, Strait was solid as a freshman for Oklahoma, recording 65 tackles, forcing two fumbles, and picking off two passes — taking one of those to the house. He continued to play well from there, putting together a strong sophomore campaign that saw him pick off another three passes, returning one for a touchdown.
His junior season wasn’t the one he got the most recognition for but he did set a personal record for interceptions that year with six. As good as he was — and he was good, even earning his first of two nominations to the All-Big 12 First-Team, he was even better in his final season.
As a senior during the 2003 campaign, Strait was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and won the Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defensive player. If that wasn’t enough, he also took home the Thorpe Award as the top defensive back in the NCAA.
Strait went on to coach later in his life, joining Bob Stoops staff as a graduate assistant in 2012 at Oklahoma.