Sherrod Coates is with the Cleveland Browns — the team Oakley originally signed with following his season on the Hill — Joseph Jefferson the Indianapolis Colts, Jeremi Johnson the Cincinnati Bengals, Mel Mitchell the New Orleans Saints and Rod “He Hate Me” Smart the Carolina Panthers.
Oakley was a second-team all-Gateway Football Conference selection, and was named to the league’s All-Newcomer Team, in 2003. He was part of an offensive line that helped Western average 242.7 rushing yards, 394.5 yards of total offense and 32.8 points per game as the Toppers finished 9-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. The Gateway’s Offensive Lineman of the Week on Oct. 18 that year, Oakley helped WKU finish as high as seventh in the final national polls.
He started all 13 of Western’s games in ’03, posting a 95 percent overall grade, an assignment grade of 99 percent and a 95 percent factor grade. Oakley collected 137 pancake blocks, and allowed only one sack and two quarterback pressures on 229 pass attempts.
A native of Houston, Oakley played with the Frankfurt Galaxy in NFL Europe this spring.
