Joe Mixon, current Cincinnati Bengals star running back and former Oklahoma standout, defended Sooners assistant Cale Gundy after the football coach resigned.

Gundy, who had been on the Oklahoma coaching staff since 1999, resigned because of his use of a "shameful and hurtful" word during a film session. His abrupt decision came Sunday night with the season less than a month away. The word Gundy used was not made clear, but the former coach assured he should have never said it.

Mixon, who played for Oklahoma in 2015 and 2016, said in a letter to the school that Gundy was not a racist and owed "who I am as a person to him."