Fans React to College Football Star Quarterback's Venmo Story
College football fans around the country are looking at Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, but the reason for the discussion has nothing to do with his performance on the field.
Mateer, who transferred to Oklahoma to play his final season of college football, is facing scrutiny after questionable descriptions for transactions on his Venmo profile.
Two Venmo transactions showed up with memos as "sports gambling" on Mateer's account, with screenshots surfacing on social media. Mateer said that the transaction logs were an "inside joke" among friends, but the controversy followed into the day on Tuesday.
— John Mateer (@John_Mateer4) August 12, 2025
"That’s exactly what I would tell the school if I’d been gambling," one fan said.
"Making a sports betting venmo payment about UCLA vs. USC on the exact same day that UCLA played football against USC," another fan said, clearly skeptical of Mateer's explanation.
"Can I tell my bookie every wager was an inside joke and get my money back?," one hopeful fan asked.
"As cool as Moneyline Mateer sounds, this dude might be cooked," one fan noted.
"A college athlete putting 'sports gambling' in his Venmo memo is clearly a joke, and honestly pretty funny. John Mateer you have my full support," said another fan who saw things differently.
"Proud of our guy for coming out and denouncing this Longhorn HOAX," said one Oklahoma fan, convinced that their rivals from Texas were behind the plot to take down their new quarterback.
The transactions took place while Mateer was a redshirt freshman at Washington State. According to ESPN, both transactions were allegedly made to Richard Roaten, believed to be one of Mateer's teammates with the Cougars.
"I have never bet on sports. I understand the seriousness of the matter but recognize that, taken out of context, those Venmo descriptions suggest otherwise," the quarterback said in a statement Tuesday.
"I can assure my teammates, coaches, and officials at the NCAA that I have not engaged in any sports gambling."
Mateer will look to follow in the footsteps of other quarterbacks who transferred to Oklahoma, like Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts. All three are now starting in the NFL after ending their college careers in Norman. Mayfield and Murray won the Heisman, and Hurts was a finalist in his last college season.
We'll see if Mateer has what it takes to lead Oklahoma back to glory in their second year of SEC play - and if he's able to put this brief preseason controversy in his rear view.