It was finally Miller Time!
“This isn’t about me, it’s about we… so I would like to welcome my teammates and coaches to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame!”
Congrats, Cowboy!!
Happy birthday to former Putnam City, Central Oklahoma and NFL running back Joe Aska, born on this day in 1972 in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Aska attended Putnam City schools where he was an All-City and All-District selection as a senior in 1990 after rushing for 889 yards and seven touchdowns in the Pirates' pass-heavy offense.
He was also a standout basketball and track and field athlete. He won the 100 and 200 meter state titles as a senior and also anchored the Pirates' third place 400 relay team.
Aska began his college career at Coffeyville Community College and then enrolled at Central Oklahoma, where he rushed for a school-record 1,629 yards as a senior in 1994. He also set single-game records for rushing attempts (45) and yards (312).
As a senior, he was named the Lone Star Conference Back of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American. He also finished third in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy, which is known as the Division II version of the Heisman Trophy.
After his senior season, he played in the Blue-Grey game, earning Most Valuable Player honors after rushing for 69 yards and two touchdowns.
He also continued to run track at UCO, becoming UCO's first NCAA Division II track champion by winning the 55-meter dash indoor title. He was also an outdoor All-American in the 100 meters.
In the 1995 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders selected Aska with the 86th overall pick. He went on to play three seasons in Oakland, his best being 1996 when he rushed for 326 yards and a touchdown.
He later played for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL, where he led the team in rushing in 2001 with 329 yards and five touchdowns.
In 2003, Aska was inducted into the UCO Athletics Hall of Fame and in 2020 the he was an inaugural member of the Putnam City Schools Athletics Hall of Fame.
Happy birthday Joe! #tdfn #okpreps @PCHighFootball@ucobronchofb@Raiders
@zach_barnett@FootballScoop The Michigan Man learned from the “original” Michigan Man Bo that if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying! What a resume!
@FootballScoop Sooo….tOSU is putting a guy in their ROH that lied to the NCAA and tOSU about violations of NCAA rules? And was fired by the university. Okay.