Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer could very well play on Sundays next year. So which former NFL quarterback is he modeling his game after and turning to for advice?
How about a longtime FOX NFL studio analyst and Pro Football Hall of Famer?
“I was at a card show in Dallas and I walk in and somebody says, ‘Do you want to meet Terry Bradshaw?'” Mateer told FOX Sports’ Tom Rinaldi in an interview on “Big Noon Kickoff.” “I’m like, ‘Yeah, duh. Who wouldn’t?'”
The two began talking and soon an unexpected friendship began to form.
“I started giving it to him and pushing his buttons a little bit,” Mateer recalls. “He gives it right back and moves on.”
What has Mateer learned from Bradshaw?
“Let it ride. You feel it. You throw the ball,” Mateer said. “Who am I to think I can talk to people like that? And now I text him, we call and he calls me.”
After spending the first three years of his collegiate career at Washington State, Mateer transferred to Oklahoma and started 12 games for the Sooners last season. He totaled 2,885 passing yards, 14 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions and a 129.4 passer rating while completing 62.2% of his passes. Mateer also rushed for 431 yards and eight touchdowns. His 2025 campaign stalled after he suffered a broken bone in his throwing hand in Week 4, which forced Mateer to miss one start and play through the injury for the rest of the season.
However, the Sooners put together a 10-2 campaign and hosted Alabama in the first round of the College Football Playoff before ultimately losing to the Crimson Tide.
Mateer doesn’t blame his injury for his play on the field.
John Mateer is in his second season at Oklahoma. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
“To lead whenever you are not playing at your best is very difficult,” Mateer told Rinaldi. “I was sucked in. I stubbed my toe. It was happening to me a lot.
“The biggest lesson is that with everything that’s going on, you have to find a way to get your mind in the right place. I didn’t look back and say, ‘I played bad because of my thumb.’ It was because of my mind.”
The Sooners’ standout signal-caller threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns as he led Oklahoma to a dominating 51-0 win over UTEP in Week 1.
As Mateer looks back on the unlikely friendship he began with Bradshaw, he still can’t believe it happened.
“What did I do to receive this blessing?”
