From his home workshop to the stadium walls, OSU paddlemaker powers a decades-long tradition 

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

The sound carries across Boone Pickens Stadium as the Oklahoma State defense watches the Murray State offense break the huddle and walk toward the line of scrimmage for the first time in the game.

Every time the Racers offense steps on the field for the next few hours, they’ll hear the THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! 

The sights and sounds of dozens of wood paddles hitting the black mats that line the concrete wall in the northwest corner are as iconic as Pistol Pete firing his shotgun and PA announcer Larry Reece announcing “Here Comes Bullet!” as the horse and rider gallop across the field after a touchdown. 

Watch an Oklahoma State football game on TV, and it’s a definite guarantee you’ll see the Paddle People hard at work throughout the telecast. 

Among them is an older man — a nearly lifelong fan — wearing an orange cowboy hat, orange OSU vest, OSU-themed bandana around his neck and orange coloring in his goatee. It’s surprising the sweat dripping off his face isn’t orange, too. 

At 73, Tony Moore stands out among the mostly OSU students who paddle every home game. 

He’s right there at the end of the line in his customary spot, where the wall juts out a bit, hanging on the edge with his left hand as he swings his right arm up and down. 

A tradition is born

The visiting team’s bench is within earshot of that constant, rhythmic THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! Former TCU quarterback Max Duggan went on the record in 2022 saying Boone Pickens is one of the loudest places he played. What about the paddles? “Those things are annoying.” 

It started in 1999 when students Larry Sumpter and Jason Smith were watching a not-good OSU team play Texas. The stands were half empty and, according to Sumpter, “You could hear the wind more than the cheers.” 

The duo were among a handful of students standing in support. They were frustrated and wanted to show the players they were there for them, so they started slapping the wall pads with their bare hands. The sound could be heard across the stadium. At the end of the game, their arms and hands were extremely sore.

Inspired, the students returned to their home on Washington Street and for days brainstormed ideas like milk jugs full of marbles or propane bottles with rocks tumbling inside. Then they discovered some dusty one-by-fours.

The next home game was against Kansas. Eight students arrived early with handmade paddles sporting a spray-painted OSU logo — created with a cardboard stencil — and black tape on the handle. 

They swung as hard as they could from pregame ‘til the final whistle. Then, on a walk to Eskimo Joe’s, the students were repeatedly thanked by other fans for their efforts. The rowdy was no longer contained to Gallagher-Iba Arena. 

A tradition was born. 

Thirteen years later, the Big 12 tried to ban them after Texas complained ahead of their matchup. Then-Athletic Director Mike Holder stood up for the Paddle People, claiming it was an existing tradition dating back to the late ‘90s, which meant they should remain. What is college football without all of the traditions? The rest of the ADs agreed and made new rules. 

“The rule is that no paddling or music is allowed while the offense is at the line of scrimmage and especially not when the ball is in play,” the O’Colly reported at the time.

‘The heartbeat of Boone Pickens Stadium’

The students who largely comprise the Paddle People camp outside the stadium the night before gamedays to maintain a tradition that started nearly 30 years ago, when it was required to sleep outside then-Lewis Field to ensure a front row seat. These days, the Paddle People is a recognized nonprofit organization. 

Following 9/11, security became stricter and the athletic department started storing the paddles and putting them out hours before gates open. 

Three hours before kickoff, the Paddle People are admitted into the stadium. With a heat index over 100 degrees and the sun’s late afternoon rays blasting down on the stands, the students and some alumni, including Moore, find their place and their paddle. They’re ready to provide what is commonly referred to as “the heartbeat of Boone Pickens Stadium.” 

Brooklyn Porter, a sophomore civil engineering major from Mannford, is in her second year as a member of the Paddle People. She was a high school cheerleader attending an OSU game with her dad when she saw the orange-and-black-clad fans slamming paddles on the mats. She knew instantly she wanted to join when she got to Stillwater.

“It’s kind of a stress relief, and then it’s also fun to cheer on our team,” said Porter before the Murray State matchup Sept. 19. “Last year when we were losing a lot, we kept paddling hard to let them know we are supporting them and still care about our football team.”

Porter is on the opposite end of the paddle line as Moore, who has been a constant at OSU games since the 1970s. The sophomore has two more years of paddling ahead of her, then she will get to take home a paddle when her work is done. 

Following the conclusion of the Murray State game, where OSU won 59-0, Moore will drive home to Collinsville before writing a lengthy Facebook post about his gameday experience. He will also share this is his final year taking part in paddling. He’s had 20 surgeries and says he’s deaf in one ear and blind in the opposite eye. 

His memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be, but he hangs on to so many OSU football moments from Bedlam victories to near misses, to Big 12 Championships, a Fiesta Bowl victory and the post-game conversations with generations of players and their families. 

He’s weathered many losing seasons from his seat in the stands. All those years battling for bowl eligibility. The many coaching changes. He’s sat through extreme heat, rain showers, snow and that 2013 Bedlam game that was a frigid 20 degrees at kickoff. The sad ending of the Mike Gundy era and that disastrous single-victory season in 2025. 

“We only paddle on defense, and last year under Gundy, God, we were on defense 40 minutes out of a 48-minute game,” Moore said. “When it’s as hot as it is (in September) it’s really exhausting.”

It was eight years ago when he joined the Paddle People and became an OSU gameday celebrity, up there with Pistol Pete and the Orange Power Guy. There’s even a certain concession worker who won’t allow him to pay for a drink.

That’s because he’s not only known for swinging paddles, but also making them.

His work hangs on the walls of OSU presidents, former players, Posse Club members and lots and lots of fans. Moore’s work is a symbol of pride for being loyal and true to the program. There are orange paddles resting on shelves next to helmets featuring that fun 1980s OSU font or the cattle brand logo of the 2000s. 

There are many across the state hanging on walls near a framed photo of Gundy or other legends like Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas or Brandon Weeden. There are extremely limited-edition oak versions gifted to the late alum-turned-mega donor Boone Pickens and a few other VIPs, including his two sons. 

He spends time during the third quarter giving away miniature handmade OSU paddle ornaments to kids. Before and during the Murray State game, he poses for selfies with fans of all ages. He has collected hundreds of photos of him with other OSU fans and football royalty. 

On the drive home, he enjoys his customary strawberry milkshake and listens to new coach Eric Morris talk about two wins in a row on the Cowboy Sports Network. 

No rest for the weary in the workshop

Arriving at Moore’s home in Collinsville, visitors wouldn’t know he was raised in a family of Sooners and attended many games in Norman. 

There’s the iron OSU decor in the yard and a black Ford F-150 with Oklahoma State Cowboys decaled on the doors, Pistol Pete’s face on a side panel and a Paddle People sticker on the back glass. 

Then the garage door opens, and there stands Moore in his orange OSU shirt and his OSU-branded bandana on his head. 

The football team is on the road at West Virginia, and Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb’s pregame show plays on the radio beyond a big stack of poplar boards, some cut into paddles waiting to be sanded, painted then the handles taped before they go off to be added to someone’s OSU memorabilia collection. 

Had you asked Moore’s parents, they’d have told you Moore was Sooner-born and Sooner-bred.

“My whole family went to OU except me, and my parents drug me to every home OU game there was, and my brother went to school there,” Moore said. “I said, ‘I’m not going over there.’”

He thought he was going to become an architectural engineer, but switched tracks and graduated with a business degree. 

As a student, he fell in love with the football program and became a diehard fan. He says he’s had season tickets for all but two seasons since graduating in 1977. 

He moved to Tulsa and worked for a little manufacturing company that sold oilfield equipment and “made a fortune doing that until the oil business went to crap” around 1992, he said. Moore then went to work for Public Service Co., where he remained until his retirement in 2020. 

Over time, his coworkers at PSO learned Moore not only loved OSU football, but also working with wood. At a company party, a coworker asked Moore if he’d make her a paddle. She wanted to paint it and then give it to her kid for Christmas. 

He estimated the size at 30 inches and made a few. Then he posted about making them on Facebook, and the requests started flowing. They’ve never stopped. 

After making a few dozen paddles, he reached out to then-Paddle People President Dylan Rowan to get the exact specifications. He learned his early cuts were two inches too long, so he adjusted his methods and got back to work. 

After he and Rowan hit it off, Rowan invited Moore to join them in paddling at the Kansas game in 2017. It was the same foe as when the tradition began nearly two decades earlier.

From the beginning, Moore chose not to profit off the paddles. He charges $75 for the standard Pokes orange paddle and donates about one-third of the money to the Paddle People, one-third to Cowboys vs. Cancer and the remaining balance is used for production and delivery of future paddles.

Orange Krylon spray paint and wood isn’t cheap. He also contributes about 50 paddles a year to the Paddle People to use in case a student’s handmade paddle breaks. His are typically sturdier, better cut and a little heavier. 

A few years back, the university pushed him to purchase a licensing agreement. Moore pointed out he does not make a profit off of them and most of the money goes to charity. The paddles are meant to remind OSU faithful about the traditions of Cowboy football. 

Moore is not allowed to disclose how many paddles he’s sold as part of an agreement with the athletic department. He’s not allowed to sell them through sites like Amazon or eBay or at the stadium, but he can keep taking requests through his personal Facebook. 

Over time, he has explored different paint schemes and designs that mirror OSU’s various uniform designs. 

“I made a special one that had an orange and black diagonal. You flipped it over and the diagonals were reversed, so I had to do special decals on that,” Moore said. “Then I posted it on Facebook and received a call from a woman asking to buy it for her son who played on the team.”

It turns out the player was linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, who now plays for the Detroit Lions. 

“When she said her last name, I said, ‘I work with a Rodriguez at PSO,’ and she said, ‘That’s my husband,’” Moore said. “I said, ‘Well, kiss me, Kate, and how small is the world?’”  

Rodriguez got the paddle. He posted it on Facebook, and then people wanted to buy one like it. Moore’s response was “one and done.”

He’s also incorporated a custom holder that includes .45 caliber shell casings to rest the paddle on. Soon, he’ll have to set a cut-off date to ensure everyone who orders one for the holidays will get it in time to put it under the tree. 

“I love to meet people to deliver a paddle,” Moore said. “I’ve delivered them as far as Cushing  or met them at a turnpike plaza on the Cimarron because they’re coming from halfway across the state. What I enjoy most about that is once I give it to them, and they get in their car, I stay and watch, because man, they’re showing it to whoever’s in the car with them, excited. If it’s a Christmas gift, I receive a picture of them with it that morning.”

When OSU is on the road, Moore sits in his black recliner surrounded by his paddle creations and his own memorabilia on the walls as he listens to the radio broadcast and watches the game on mute. He doesn’t care about the delay between what he hears and sees — he’s loyal and true to OSU’s radio play-by-play crew. 

If the Pokes lose, Moore will often stay up late taking out his frustration by creating new paddles into the early hours of the night. It serves as a reminder there are other fans out there who love their team as much as he does. 

There are more games to be played. On this night, OSU will beat West Virginia, which means he can listen to Coach Morris talk about another win before turning off the radio and heading to bed. 

In an era of college football when NIL and the transfer portal have radically changed the game, it’s traditions like the Paddle People that create a connection to the past and make it all feel like nothing’s changed when the players take the field and Boone Pickens’ pulse can be heard. 

This Saturday is OSU’s homecoming— Moore’s last with a paddle in his hand. He’ll give Cowboys vs. Cancer another $500 check before taking his place on the front row. The stadium will be rocking.  

Coach Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes will stand feet away, forced to hear those annoying paddles THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! 

Music to Moore’s ears. 

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