There will be yells of “Pay Attention, Jermaine!” this fall when Oklahoma kicks off its 2009 season.

While Jermaine Gresham, Gerald McCoy and Trent Williams all announced their intention to return to OU for another season, it was Sam Bradford whose announcement warranted ESPN to cut in with breaking news.

Sam will be back in 2009.

What’s extraordinary about the way things have transpired since OU lost to Florida is that all these football players decided to stay. We don’t know about Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray, but it very well could be that each guy who had a legit shot at millions decided he wanted to stick around in li’l ol’ Norman, Okla., another season.

Sam said he didn’t feel the need to cut his OU experience short.

You do realize this guy would have been a millionaire in two months, no?

But he’s so right in the mature, big picture arena. There is no need to cut youth short. There is no need to cut short the OU experience, which I believe is a college experience second to none when you take everything into account.

Why leave Norman, where you’re king of the universe?

When Stoops said, “If it’s all the same again to you, we’ll try again next year,” I swear I think it brought the fan base together. That these guys are passing up millions to stick around another, to try to finish some business …

I’m not naive. The offensive line will be suspect. We’ll have young receivers. We have some pieces in the secondary to fill.

However, the core of the Oklahoma Sooners’ team is returning.

I didn’t think we stood a chance to win the Big 12 next year, much less win a national title. However, today changed everything.

Like it or not, America, there’s a good chance you’ll have the Sooners to kick around next year.