As we head towards halftime of the 83rd Cotton Bowl Classic, the #2 Clemson Tigers currently lead the #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-3. Although the final outcome is still very much in question, we still have some definitive winners on the day. Clark the Bald Eagle (not to be confused with Clark the Cubs pantsless mascot) soared and circled through the interior of AT&T Stadium just before kickoff; landing on a couple of lucky fans.
Or perhaps not so lucky, depending on what your opinion of birds and animals are. We can’t think of any state that is more ‘Merica! than Texas, and there’s nothing more Merica! than a bald eagle. And no this was not scripted.
They had a bald eagle for the #CottonBowl national anthem and it's landing on random fans, this is beautiful ?
(? @BenKercheval) pic.twitter.com/i1xkb9Tt8t— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/Jesse_Horne/status/1079123343427686401
Eventually, Clark the Bald Eagle did make it safely back to his handlers, and no animals, nor people were harmed during this aspect of the Cotton Bowl.
Updated with video:
What’s going on at the Cotton Bowl? A bald eagle just landed on a Notre Dame fan ?
(via @RossDellenger)pic.twitter.com/SwUPsCLDlj
— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) December 29, 2018
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.