EVEN A coach decked out in crimson and cream can sometimes talk until he is blue in the face without getting through to his players.

That's why Bob Stoops recruited a former Sooner this spring to address a subject Stoops has stressed repeatedly in the decade he has been in charge of Oklahoma's football program.

The player: Dan Cody. The topic: graduating.

Cody did more than just talk the talk. The Ada native walked it during OU's graduation ceremonies Saturday when he received his Sociology degree.

Four seasons after he played his final game at OU, the 27-year-old Cody completed the unfinished education business he had left behind. He dropped out of school when the Baltimore Ravens selected him in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft.

Cody had some familiar company when he picked up his diploma. Among the 22 football players who graduated yesterday was Cody's former teammate and classmate, Jammal Brown.

The 28-year old Brown, who received a degree in Multidisciplinary Studies, also completed his playing career in 2004. A few months later, the Lawton native became the first offensive lineman selected when the New Orleans Saints selected him in the first round as the 13th overall pick.

"Those two guys," Stoops said in a telephone interview, "I can't tell you how proud I am of them."

For different reasons, Cody and Brown have become the perfect poster players for Stoops. He can use them as proof-positive examples of why players should listen when he continually harps on the importance of getting a degree.

"Dan Cody is the classic story of why you hear me preaching all the time about second-round guys," Stoops said.

Impressionable young players have visions of NFL millions dancing in their heads when they see a player drafted as high as the versatile Cody. The Ravens made him the 53rd overall selection because of his ability to play end or linebacker.

Stoops' sermon includes research that shows the average NFL career is 3

1/2

years. He explains that when a second-round player signs for an average of $1.8 million, he sees about half of it after taxes, paying his agent's fee and purchasing a place to live.

"Everyone thinks, 'Oh, I'm going to help my family.' Who are you really helping as a second-round guy?" Stoops said. "You're lucky to yourself.

"So Dan spoke to the team about the fallacy of just because he made it in the NFL that he was going to be OK (financially)."

Cody's professional career has been injury-plagued. He suffered a season-ending knee injury his first day of practice with Baltimore. A second knee injury ruined another season and the Ravens cut him during training camp last August.

"When a player's career is over, everybody acts like he'll be OK because he made enough money," Stoops said. "Dan told our team that's a bunch of baloney.

"He told them, 'Without a degree, what are you going to do the rest of your life?' And the longer you wait to go back to school, the harder it gets."

Stoops has frequently used Brown's experience when players are thinking of leaving OU early. Projected as a second- or third-round pick after his junior season, Brown stayed and his stock shot so high that he signed a five-year deal for $11 million.

The pride Stoops has in Brown, Cody and others like them is because they want to do something with their lives when their playing days are over. Unfortunately, hundreds of players drop out after their senior season and fail to follow up on their vow to return and graduate.

"It's really important to me that my players get their degrees because of the opportunities in their lives," Stoops said. "Let's face it, people who want to hire you can't if you don't have a degree.

"I can't hire a guy on my staff who hasn't graduated. You may have a great background in football, but you're not going to coach in college without a degree."

Stoops isn't sure what the future holds for Cody and Brown. But he's thrilled to know he won't have to turn them down because of a lack of a degree if they ever ask him for a job or a job recommendation.

"It's been hard for a guy like Dan to come back later," Stoops said. "But he fought through it, worked hard and he did it."

Stoops can now only hope a lot of undergraduates listened this spring when Dan Cody, OU class of 2009, delivered his commencement pep talk.