The eagle has landed: at the Cotton Bowl.
A bald eagle named Clark went a tad rogue during the pre-game show at Saturday’s Cotton Bowl, the college football semifinal between Notre Dame and Clemson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The bird made several rounds of the stadium before landing on a fan or two.
NOTRE DAME BY ONE MILLION!!!! GO IRISH !!! #GOIrish pic.twitter.com/aafwKSVorh
— Boba Bettis (@CBusIrish) December 29, 2018
That other photo of the eagle is still blowing up my mentions, but this photo is probably better. #GoIRISH @ESPNCFB @RedditCFB pic.twitter.com/Ihk8Pde2oY
— Boba Bettis (@CBusIrish) December 29, 2018
So the bald eagle they released for the national anthem landed on the arm of an Irish fan. Good omen? #GoIrish #GoodyearCottonBowl pic.twitter.com/rEVmDNvyZY
— Tom Molloy (@tmolloy_12) December 29, 2018
Clark, by the way, was hatched in 2003 at the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis, according to the Star-Telegram.
He is part of a program to reintroduce the species while it was on the endangered-species list.
But he won’t be released into the wild.
I worked with Clark the Eagle during his practice performance, were he did it perfectly. #clarktheeagle #cottonbowleagle #CottonBowl #GoodyearCottonBowl pic.twitter.com/XeJzSxtpfQ
— Edward Cardenas (@edwarddcardenas) December 29, 2018
As for the fan who proved to be an inadvertent landing post.
“I was scared crapless, ” Albert Armas told Sports Illustrated.
Rogue bald eagle lands on fan 2 rows behind us at #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/N6RNx3p6iq
— Matthew Gillespie (@mattmgillespie) December 30, 2018
Clark also landed on another man, Tuyen Nguyen, who perhaps fittingly, is a Philadelphia Eagles fan.
“When I saw the bird land [on Armas], I thought, the bird had to be very tired,” Nguyen told SI later. “So I put my hand out to see what happens. And it landed on me. It was very interesting. I was very excited. It was amazing. I couldn’t even believe it.”
Clark eventually went to his handler.
This was the biggest stadium — with 90,000 fans — the bird had ever flown.
Oh, and for the game.
The Clemson Tigers practically mauled the Fighting Irish to win 30-3.
Clemson will now play Orange Bowl winner the Alabama Crimson Tide in the national championship Jan. 7.
Main photo @CBusIrish/Twitter
