College football fans at the Cotton Bowl game between Clemson and Notre Dame got more than they expected when a bald eagle swooped into the crowd and landed on spectators.
The eagle was being used as part of the pre-game ceremony for the college football playoff semifinal game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
The country’s sacred bird was seen diving into the crowd, where it landed on at least two fans.
Footage shared on social media showed the bald eagle sharing some time with two Notre Dame fans as other spectators among the 90,000 in attendance looked on amused.
The eagle landed all right. On a Notre Dame fan. pic.twitter.com/6koNTfitvm
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 29, 2018
The eagle they had flying around during the national anthem appears to have gotten very confused and landed on a random spectator? pic.twitter.com/x10f3FtMvk
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) December 29, 2018
One fan was even seen proudly parading the bird on his arm.
?☘️ pic.twitter.com/5upm9Ym4L4
— Kimberley A. Martin (@ByKimberleyA) December 29, 2018
Sports Illustrated caught up with one of the fans visited by the eagle, Albert Armas, who joked he had been “scared crapless” when the huge bird swooped onto him.
Fellow fan Tuyen Nguyen, who was seen coaxing the bird onto his arm, appropriately revealed that he is a supporter of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Sadly for the Notre Dame fans the bird’s visit was not a lucky sign as the Fighting Irish suffered a heavy 30-3 defeat at the hands of the Tigers.
