Michigan State is scheduled to play Georgia next Monday in the Outback Bowl, not the Gator, but that didn't stop coach Mark Dantonio from turning to a little reptilian inspiration during Thursday's practice. According to MSU beat writer Joe Rexrode of the East Lansing Journal, Dantonio ended the session by having a professional alligator trainer — dressed out in pads as a Spartan player — chase down a loose gator on the field.
Only Dantonio and a pair of staffers were in on the prank, which was apparently inspired by a Muhammad Ali poem penned before his 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" against George Foreman:
Last night I had a dream,
When I got to Africa, I had one hell of a rumble.
I had to beat Tarzan's behind first,
For claiming to be King of the Jungle.
For this fight, I've wrestled with alligators,
I've tussled with a whale.
I done handcuffed lightning
And thrown thunder in jail.
You know I'm bad: Just last week, I murdered a rock,
Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick.
I'm so mean, I make medicine sick. …
Oh, and the trainer may have been bitten in the leg. Don't worry, folks: As long as the gator wasn't from Australia, he's going to be alright.
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Photo via @MSU_Football.
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.