A bald eagle was supposed to fly around the stadium at the Cotton Bowl. He landed on a few Notre Dame fans instead.
The eagle, who was named Clark, was supposed to fly around the stadium during the National Anthem in what was, no doubt, intended to be a majestic moment complete with a giant flag on the field.
Instead, Clark decided to take a couple of breaks on Notre Dame fans. He left Clemson fans alone.
Here is Clark posing for some pics with one fan who stuck out his arm for the eagle to land:
Another fan, who was seated near the press box, also got an unexpected avian visitor.
Although the guy in green — later identified as Albert Armas — didn’t look pleased by Clark’s landing and later admitted he was “scared crapless,” his son apparently got a good laugh out of the whole thing.
Yahoo’s sports Pat Forde saw the whole thing happen in person.
Here was his account:
“Clark toured the stadium and alighted upon the shoulder of a freaked-out
ND fan in a green T-shirt. He then moved to another section in the third level, corner of stadium, and a different ND fan held up his arm like a pro and the eagle landed. Clearly the eagle favors the Irish.”
Here, by the way, is how Clark’s performance was supposed to go.