College controversies
Bosworth is known for his radical hairstyles, his on-field play, and his criticism of the NCAA. He was particularly focused on the level of control the NCAA exerted over athletes, preventing them from making money during their college careers.
Because of his suspension due to steroid use, Bosworth was not allowed to play in the post-season 1987 Orange Bowl. During the 3rd quarter of that game, Bosworth pulled off his football jersey to reveal a T-shirt that read, "NCAA: National Communists Against Athletes." Picked up by the television cameras, this led to much consternation among alumni and administrators at the university. Aware that Bosworth was likely to be entering the NFL draft anyway, the OU coach, Barry Switzer, dismissed Bosworth from the team.
Bosworth was quoted in Sports Illustrated magazine's 1986 fall football issue as saying that at a summer job at General Motors' Oklahoma City plant, co-workers taught him how to insert bolts in hard-to-reach places to ensure they would rattle. He told the magazine, "If you own a Celebrity or Century made in 1985 in Oklahoma City, that car is (messed up) if I had anything to do with it". In addition, he claimed that each bolt carried a note that said: "Aha! You found me!" and said, "I love the thought of people going absolutely crazy, saying "Where is that ... rattle coming from?"' Some of Bosworth's former co-workers who read about it disputed the story. Bosworth reportedly retracted the statement, although he later denied the retraction.
In September 1988, Bosworth wrote an autobiography, The Boz, with Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly. In it, Bosworth said the Sooner football program was laden with drug use, gunplay in the athletic dorm, and other wild behavior. Although many Sooner boosters dismissed it as the rantings of a resentful ex-player, an NCAA report issued three months later confirmed many of Bosworth's claims, and ultimately led to Switzer being forced to resign.
