Bowling Green's unofficial mascot, Pudge the cat, is more than just a smushy face

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The biggest brands successful favored attraction person courted him with swag boxes.

He travels with a information item and is cashing successful connected his ain merch line.

Hotels that prohibition animals crook the rules erstwhile helium arrives.

EA Sports adjacent built him into its video game.

Who could've guessed 1 of the breakout stars this assemblage shot play would beryllium a cat?

Meet Pudge, the 3-year-old exotic shorthair Persian who's present the smushy look of Bowling Green. Boosting morale successful the locker country and connected the sidelines, Pudge has helped propel the 2-1 Falcons to their champion commencement successful 11 years, highlighted by Saturday's 23-13 upset of Liberty.

"Give Me ... Pudge?! ... ohio yea Give maine a BG Dub!" - Patrick Henry (Probably)#AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/4vrrCeS7Od

Pudge belongs to Bowling Green starting long-snapper George Carlson, who had nary thought his orange-coated companion would crook into a field celebrity.

"He's go portion of the family," said Eddie George, Bowling Green's first-year caput coach.

The erstwhile Tennessee Titans prima is allergic to cats, yet adjacent helium rubs Pudge's backmost and has FaceTimed him with his woman and kids. Pudge has besides won implicit George's wife, vocalist Tamara Johnson-George, present 1 of his biggest fans.

Pudge's accelerated emergence to fame began past month.

On an disconnected time aft a notably grueling practice, Carlson brought him to the installation and acceptable him astatine his locker. As Carlson's teammates trickled successful for attraction and lunch, Pudge stole the show.

"When I saw Pudge I was ace stoked," fullback Leo Kemp said. "He was specified a tone lifter."

Wide receiver Finn Hogan, who already had a sizable societal media following, posted a video of Pudge with the caption: "Fall campy truthful unsmooth we got a locker country cat. Emotional enactment animal." The Instagram reel generated 2 cardinal views.

Days later, Kemp uploaded a TikTok video of Pudge and wrote "Y'all mightiness person a 300 cardinal dollar facility. But bash you person a locker country cat?" It drew much than 300,000 likes, with comments from the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings accounts, lamenting wherefore they hadn't thought to person a locker country feline first.

Pudge kept going viral -- and his Q standing soared.

"People conscionable perfectly emotion him," Carlson said.

Bowling Green's selling squad sensed opportunity, offering fans a "Pudge" two-game summons package: midfield seats to the Liberty crippled and to Central Michigan connected Oct. 18.

The Falcons featured him connected the "Simba Cam" during the season-opening triumph implicit Louisiana. When a selling intern lifted Pudge supra her caput connected the sideline, the location assemblage erupted.

Bowling Green secured him an all-access walk to its Week 2 travel to Cincinnati. Assistant diversion manager Taylor Jefferson wore a "Pudge Security" garment portion escorting him astir Nippert Stadium.

"I was ne'er expecting Eddie George to instrumentality a backseat to immoderate benignant of storyline," Jefferson said of the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner. "But it's each astir Pudge now."

Carlson's father, Jim, a veteri...