The college sports world has been buzzing the past couple of days with a story regarding Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and Venmo transactions. Pictures emerged on social media of a pair 2022 transactions when Mateer played for Washington State showed the QB had put “sports gambling” as the payment description.
Mateer later denied that the payments were for gambling and called them an “inside joke.” He also stated that he has never bet on any sport.
FOX Sports radio host Colin Cowherd is among the many people who find his explanation plausible. Speaking on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday, Cowherd used his own experience with Venmo, pointing out that putting a fake reason in the descriptor is a “running gag” on the payment app.
“I Venmo once in a while and I got kids that Venmo and they make jokes,” he said. “It’s like a running gag. So everybody’s crushing this Oklahoma quarterback because he put on his Venmo, ‘$500, USC-UCLA game.’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no. It was a joke with my friends.’
“Now, as a quarterback, I would not joke. As a college athlete, I would not joke about that stuff. But all my kids, or most, have joked on Venmo. It’s like a running gag on Venmo that you put in somehow why you need the money. I even get it and I’m a dad.”
It is true that Mateer would not be the first person to put in a reason for payment that was not what the transaction was actually for. However, to his critics, it might seem like a convenient excuse. One odd detail is that one of the payments specifically mentioned a matchup between USC and UCLA as the game Mateer was allegedly betting on.
Shortly after John Mateer’s statement, the Oklahoma athletic department released its own statement revealing the program has no knowledge of “any NCAA investigation and has no reason to believe there is one pending” regarding Mateer’s alleged Venmo transactions.
“OU Athletics provides ongoing education to its student-athletes, coaches, and staff on matters related to sports gambling,” the Oklahoma statement read, according to SoonerScoop’s George Stoia III. “The department utilizes ProhiBet, which is an industry-standard service offering comprehensive monitoring of sports gambling activities. OU takes any allegations of gambling seriously and works closely with the NCAA in any situations of concern. OU Athletics is unaware off any NCAA investigation and has no reason to believe there is one pending.”
As of this writing, it doesn’t seem as if Mateer will face any sort of punishment for the transactions. The No. 3 player in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings is all set to lead the Sooners into the season as the starting quarterback on Aug. 30 against Illinois State.
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