What does the hypnotoad do for TCU football? We asked players to describe it

Crazy. Magical. Energizing. Hypnotizing.

LOS ANGELES — You can’t talk about TCU football’s incredible 2022-23 season and road to the College Football Playoff national championship game without mentioning the team’s unofficial mascot, the quirky and psychedelic amphibian, the hypnotoad.

While the concept of the hypnotoad originated with the animated show Futurama, as The New York Times reported in a recent profile, it’s not new to TCU football. But throughout this season, it’s taken off and has become a memed phenomenon for the Horned Frogs and their fan base. And the powers of the trippy toad, the players say, have helped propel them to Monday’s national title game against Georgia at SoFi Stadium.

With the help of some delightfully unhinged celebratory videos TCU football’s Twitter account has been posting after wins, it seems like everyone has embraced the power of this unofficial mascot.

Hypnotoad signs and flags have become ubiquitous at games, head coach Sonny Dykes has been seen wearing a hypnotoad sweatshirt and receiver Derius Davis added a colorful tie-dye hypnotoad to the white Air Force 1s he got for the national championship game.

And, of course, the hypnotoad all over social media.