‘Plankton Mentality’ catches the eyes of the national media

Jaylon Simpson’s unique but accurate description of his playing style made the cut as an SEC superlative this week from The Athletic.

Prior to Auburn’s win over Mississippi State last Saturday, senior safety [autotag]Jaylin Simpson[/autotag] described the way he motivates himself for every game to the media.

He used a unique, but accurate, description of what he uses to fuel his drive. It’s called “plankton mentality” and it comes from a character from the cartoon show Spongebob Squarepants.

The question from reporters stemmed from an Instagram post that featured Plankton dreaming of stealing the Krusty Krab’s secret Krabby Patty formula. Simpson provided further context in a humorous manner.

“Since I’ve been knowing Plankton, dude just got one goal, man: get that Krabby Patty formula,” Simpson said of “plankton mentality.” “He don’t stop, no matter what. Every episode, he’s on it. We gotta get that Plankton mentality every game. We gotta get that formula every game.”

The video of him explaining “plankton mentality” went viral, and became the “Phrase of the Week” in The Athletic’s most recent SEC Superlatives list.

Simpson’s quote was not the only superlative that Auburn received this week from The Athletic. Auburn’s “musical road” was listed as this week’s “best show of school spirit” winner. In 2019, an Auburn University engineering alum gifted the University an overlay that will play the first seven notes of the Auburn fight song “War Eagle” for those driving on South Donahue Drive.

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