Reggie Grimes delivers best game for OU football team with ailing grandmother in the crowd

NORMAN — Reggie Grimes stomped and strutted.

After his tandem sack of UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison late in the first quarter Saturday, the Sooners’ junior defensive end seemed cleansed of the frustration that marked much of last season.

Grimes played the game of his life in the 2022 season opener, with 2.5 sacks — more than he had all of last season.

For Grimes, Saturday’s win was about much more than just turning the page.

It was a chance to perform at least one more time for his biggest fan.

If Reggie Grimes was celebrating hard on the field, Barbara Grimes was just as enthusiastic in the stands.

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“Mama” is what the Grimes family calls Barbara.

“She’s been everyone’s mother,” Reggie said of his grandmother. “She’s especially been that role for me.”

It was the last time Barbara will have a chance to watch her grandson play in person for quite awhile.

On Thursday, Barbara will walk in to Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown in Nashville to begin chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Barbara was diagnosed with cancer April 1. It was a stunning piece of news for the family matriarch who had beaten the disease about 20 years ago and was told she had a 98% chance to staying cancer free.

“That was devastating,” Barbara said.

Barbara knew what chemotherapy meant. It would give her a better chance at beating the cancer and extending her life, but it also meant a severe suppression of her immune system, which would make it almost impossible for her to risk being in the middle of large crowds — like the ones at football games.

So Barbara made the decision to put off the treatment, preferring instead to soak in the chance of seeing Reggie play for what could be the final time.

“I’m Reggie’s No. 1 fan,” Barbara said. “I’ve got 10 grandkids, and we feel like it’s important for us to support them, and for them to know that we support them. This year, he’s got a good chance to have a really good season. So we thought, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get there.’”

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Barbara’s doctors knew there was no talking her out of it.

“They know me,” she said. “I’m not doing anything until I do this.”

Reggie doesn’t know where he’d be without “Mama.”

At the top of his notes each day, Reggie writes “be who you are.” He writes the same message on his wrist tape.

“That’s one of the things she’s told me to do, that’s one of those things she’s expressed just the way she lives — the way my entire family lives,” Reggie said. “So, just being who you are. I think today, especially today, I think us as a team showed that. I think me as a person showed that as well.”

The Grimes’ big day started more than two hours before kickoff, when Reggie spotted his grandmother along the Walk of Champions and wrapped her in an embrace.

She was hard to miss, with a bright white shirt with a stylized “OU Sooners” in the shape of a heart with “Mama” underneath and her grandson’s last name and number on the back.

“Here come the tears,” Barbara said of the pregame moment. “Then when he had the half sack, I thought, ‘Yeah,’ then when he got the back-to-back, it was oh my gosh.”

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Reggie immediately followed up his half-sack of Hardison with one that was all him, bullrushing straight forward as Hardison bent down to pick up the dropped snap and wrapping Hardison up, triggering an even bigger celebration than his first.

After the play, Grimes shook his head in disbelief.

With the late afternoon heat getting to her, Barbara watched the second half on television.

But by then, Reggie had already played his most productive game of his Sooners career.

“It was really special and really important to have a day,” Reggie said. “That allowed me to play free knowing that I wasn’t doing it for the guys in the locker room, I wasn’t doing it for myself, but I was also doing it for her. Just to have that kind of performance I had today despite everything, I think it was really touching.”

Defensive coordinator Ted Roof expected big things from Grimes, calling him a “grinder all through camp.”

The circumstances of the day made Grimes’ day shine even brighter, Roof said.

“What a special day for he and his family,” Roof said. “That’s so cool. You never know how many special days you’re getting, and that was certainly one of them.”

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As the excitement of the game began to fade a bit Saturday evening, the impact of having Barbara in the stands became a bit more clear to him.

“It’s bittersweet because today might be the last time she gets to see me play in person,” Reggie said before making his way to the plaza outside the Switzer Center to meet his family. “It’s really one of those things where in the moment it’s amazing but afterward, I’m going to see her, I’ll probably cry a little bit.”

About 30 minutes later, it was Barbara tearing up as she was surrounded by the 16 other family members who made the trip to Norman to watch Reggie.

She chooses to lean on her faith, family, and optimism to keep her spirits up as she prepares for the battle that begins in a few days.

“I think that with so many people praying for me — if it’s the Lord’s will, we’ll make it through and be in the championship game and I’ll be there,” Barbara said.

OU vs. Kent State

KICKOFF: 6 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Reggie Grimes delivers big game vs. UTEP for grandmother