Bowling Green State University Athletics
The Bowling Green football program finds itself at a bit of a crossroads in 2025. The Falcons became a perennial bowl team under former head coach Scot Loeffler.
But Loeffler departed the program in the offseason to become the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. To replace him, Bowling Green hired College Football Hall of Famer and Tennessee Titans legend Eddie George.
George, who went to college just two hours south at Ohio State, turned around FCS program Tennessee State in just four seasons and helped lead the Tigers to their first playoff appearance since 2013.
But life as a non-Power 4 football program is tenuous these days, so the Falcons are also turning to another source of good vibes for the 2025 season.
Pudge The Cat Leads The Bowling Green Football Team Into The 2025 Season
Bowling Green long snapper George Carlson was looking to lighten the mood at the Falcons’ facility during the preseason. In order to do so, he brought his 3-year-old exotic shorthair Persian cat, Pudge, to the complex.
It wasn’t long before Pudge became a fan favorite among the team, and soon enough, he had his own jersey and was part of the squad.
Meet Pudge, the newest member of @BG_Football. 🐈 🏈 First assignment: keeping the locker room game-day ready. pic.twitter.com/JUrt8qqbsK
— Bowling Green State University (@bgsu) August 27, 2025
Pudge now spends time with the team almost anytime Carlson doesn’t, and he was even on the sidelines to Bowling Green’s 26-7 victory over Lafayette in Week 1.
Bowling Green’s long snapper brought his cat Pudge to the stadium during fall camp, and the team gave him his own jersey and locker.
During the Falcons’ season-opener, Pudge made his TV debut.pic.twitter.com/7AoYSIhfWI
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 29, 2025
At first, George wanted to get rid of the cat, telling his team that he was allergic. But according to George, he showed his wife a picture of Pudge, and she insisted that he be made a full-time member of the team.
Pudge even made an appearance on “Good Morning America!”
Now, listen, I was once a cat hater! In fact, for 25 or so years, I always thought I hated cats. Then I lived with a cat, and now it turns out that I think cats are cool as heck.
But Pudge is…not the handsomest looking cat in the world. My man has a bit of a scrunched-up face, and for some reason,n his tongue is always hanging out of his mouth.
Nonetheless, he seems like a pretty cool cat! And the vibes seem high around the Falcons program, so it’s clear that Pudge is doing his job at an extremely high level.