Louisiana governor Jeff Landry made waves last week when he arranged for a live Tiger to be present in Tiger Stadium for the LSU vs. Alabama game.
The Tiger wasn’t LSU’s Mike The Tiger. The animal was from Florida and went by the name Omar Bradley.
Omar came and left Tiger Stadium without issue, but things didn’t go to plan for LSU on the field, falling on the wrong end of a 42-13 blowout.
A few days after the loss, Gov. Landry took a swipe at LSU’s effort.
“Our tiger, our live tiger, unfortunately, disappointedly, was the only tiger who showed up on Saturday,” Landry said.
The Tiger’s appearance came a few months after Landry expressed his desire to see a live tiger back at games. LSU used to bring Mike into the stadium but stopped, deciding it wasn’t in the animal’s best interest.
Not everyone was a fan of Omar. There was pushback for the same reasons LSU originally decided to stop bringing Mike. On top of that, some fans had a hard time taking Omar seriously when LSU already has a real Tiger of its own — one that many fans feel a connection to.