A possum stole the spotlight on Thursday when it invaded the pitch at halftime during a college football game between TCU Horned Frogs and Texas Tech Red Raiders.
A brief interruption of the game was necessary while stadium workers hurried to get the screeching animal off the field safely, using a stick that had an attachment on the end. A video of the possum was uploaded to X, formerly known as Twitter, by @jasrifootball, and has received more than 3.1 million views since November 2.
The Virginia opossum is the only species of possum found in the United States and Canada and is typically a nonaggressive animal. The creature eats insects, rodents, birds, eggs, frogs, plants, fruits and grain.
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The spectacle took place at Texas Tech’s Jones AT&T stadium in Lubbock, during the NCAA football game. Even though Texas Tech prevailed in the end, winning 35-28, the possum’s interruption stole the show.
Newsweek reached out to a Texas Tech representative for comment via email Friday.
It is clear that the unscripted appearance of the possum had quite the impression on viewers, as people took to X to share how much they enjoyed the surprise visitor.
“That just happened at the end of a first quarter, we had a possum on the field about the 15-yard line and he is not happy about being escorted out of the stadium,” one commentator wrote in the footage that was shared to the platform.
Another posted: “I’m glad that guy had that stick with the thing on.”
Fans shared their disapproval of the possum being caught, with one person writing: “Bro looked so happy just waddling why they gotta ruin it.”
“Free him! He’s innocent!” another posted.
“Bro just wanted to run down on kickoff,” a third wrote.
A fourth added: “Texas tech TCU game was just delayed due to a possum on the field. Oh, how I love football.”
Another commenter comically praised the possum’s agility, writing: “Bro was just trying out for TCU, let him in coach.”
This isn’t the first time an animal has halted a sports game. In 2022, a soccer match in Chile took an unexpected turn after a pitch-invading dog halted play. The canine invasion happened when Chile’s women’s national soccer team played host to South American rivals Venezuela at the Estadio La Granja, Curicó.
Eventually, Chile teammates Yenny Acuña and Javiera Toro succeeded in escorting the dog off the field, with the game resuming soon after.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.