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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/1owaState on 2023-08-01 03:31:54.
The life of a mascot is a solemn one.
Sure, on the surface, it seems full of action. Running out of a tunnel to the 102,000 cheering fans every fall Saturday, taking pictures with kids, people wearing your likeness on a shirt with pride. And yet, it’s all a facade. They’re not here to see you. They’re here to see the team. You’re a side show, a gear in the giant college sports machine, and at the end of the day when you go home, there’s no one there but you.
This is the life of a mascot. They put on a show, but they are in their own world. They have no one to appreciate them as the star of the show. This was the thinking of Brutus the Buckeye up until when a certain webfoot caught his eye.
January 13, 2015.
The Buckeyes first national championship appearance since 2007 and Brutus was absolutely pumped up. The Buckeyes had come of a 59-0 shellacking of Wisconsin in the Big Ten, and had a very resilient showing in their 42-35 win vs. the top ranked Crimson Tide. Brutus knew that they were going up against a great Oregon offense, having watched the Ducks dismantle Florida State just a couple days before, but as the team mascot he knew it was his job to be enthusiastic and never waver his confidence. As the pregame festivities came to a close and the time of the game neared Brutus’ confidence grew. His heart was beating at 100 mph. He was confident. He was ready. He was having fun. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a dark horse for the Heisman. As Brutus gets to the entrance of the tunnel, he can hear the crowd
“O-H!”
“I-O”
“O-H!”
“i-o” he whispers to himself
The Texas ranger standing in the front gives his signal to Urban Meyer, and the team, lead by Brutus sprints out onto the field to a thunderous applause. For Brutus, he savored all of it in. The glimmering lights, the feeling of the air surrounding him, the Ohio State fight song performed by the marching band. This was his sole purpose in life, to be amongst the Buckeyes. The band went silent as he closed his eyes. In that moment, it seemed like nothing could bring Brutus down.
Just then, the sound of an ATV caught his ear.
Brutus looked over as the Oregon band started to play and the ducks came onto the field. He froze. Riding out of the tunnel, his yellow neckerchief flapping in the wind, was the Oregon Duck. Brutus had never seen a more beautiful creature. His feathers white as snow, his cute little hat, the way his tail waddled when he got off his ride and started running around the middle of the field with his big Oregon flag. Brutus was enamored, and his heart was almost beating out of his chest. As the referee blew his whistle, and the game progressed, Brutus couldn’t take him off of his mind. He didn’t snap out of it until a loud bang made him look up. Confetti. He was quickly taken into the arms of an Ohio State lineman and realized that his team had just won the National Championship. He was elated, running around the field, making confetti angels and high fiving the team as they stepped up onto the podium to receive the trophy that most of them had worked years for. And in that moment, he couldn’t help but glance over to see a certain duck sitting down with his head in his hands. Brutus’ smile dropped and his elation turned into empathy. He rushed over to the Oregon sideline, sat down beside him, and put his arm on his mallard friend’s shoulder. The duck looked over, moved Brutus’ arm around his waist, and rested his head on the buckeye’s shoulder. They stayed like that until the festivities were over, and they had to go to the team bus and head back to the airport. Brutus didn’t know if him and the Duck would see eachother again, but in the moment he felt like more than a side act in the Ohio State show. He felt as though at least someone felt his pain, and someone appreciated him for who he was.
When Brutus got back to Columbus, the first thing he did was look up his webfoot mystery friend on Instagram. He gave him a follow. Almost instantly he received a notification.
@theoregonduck is now following you
His heart started beating when he pulled up his messages, what does he even say? “Hey remember that time we met a couple days ago that was fun quick side note you’re actually really cute I’ll buy you some suet the next time you’re in Ohio haha xx”
“No.”
“Can’t sound desperate.”
“Just say hello or hey or something”
Brutus takes a breath, and starts typing.
“Quack :)”
send
“Crap”
“It’s over” Brutus thinks. “I screwed it up.”
He sets his phone down, and heads to the shower.
10 minutes later, after getting dried off and slipping on a pair of boxers, Brutus checks his phone. To his surprise, he has an instagram message.
@theoregonduck: Quack to you too? Haha.
He sighs.
@thebrutusbuckeye: Sorry, not the best at conversation lmao.
Almost immediately, Brutus gets another notification.
@theoregonduck: No worries :) To be honest, I don’t get the chance to talk to many people but you seem like a nice guy.
Brutus and the Duck talked all night. The awkwardness faded away, and they realized despite being completely different, they had more similarities than one could possibly imagine. Brutus gave him a nickname, Puddles. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years. Each time that Ohio State played Oregon, the two promised they would meet up and do something, and each time they delivered.
With rumors of realignment bringing the two closer than ever before, Brutus took a trip to Eugene to surprise his web footed friend. His heart started racing when he walked into Autzen stadium, waiting to see his little puddle. Brutus got down the tunnel, and standing at midfield was Puddles, as majestic as ever. The wind blowing against his feathers and the sun hitting his face, Brutus had never seen a more beautiful sight. As he approach midfield Puddles turned and dropped his baton. The two started racing towards eachother for what felt like an eternity, and when they finally jumped into eachothers arms, neither of them could let go. It just felt perfect. After about a minute, Brutus straightened his back but didn’t let go. They were looking into eachothers eyes when Brutus leaned forward and gave Puddles a kiss on the forehead. He pulled back and smiled as both of them started blushing
Neither of them had the words to tell eachother how they felt.
It didn’t matter.
When they turned and looked at the scoreboard, arms around eachother, they both knew.
The pieces had fallen into place
END.