Bowling Green's unofficial mascot, Pudge the cat, is more than just a smushy face

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The biggest brands in pet care have courted him with swag boxes.

He travels with a security detail and is cashing in on his own merch line.

Hotels that ban animals bend the rules when he arrives.

EA Sports even built him into its video game.

Who could've guessed one of the breakout stars this college football season would be a cat?

Meet Pudge, the 3-year-old exotic shorthair Persian who's now the smushy face of Bowling Green. Boosting morale in the locker room and on the sidelines, Pudge has helped propel the 2-1 Falcons to their best start in 11 years, highlighted by Saturday's 23-13 upset of Liberty.

"Give Me ... Pudge?! ... oh yea Give me a BG Dub!" - Patrick Henry (Probably)#AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/4vrrCeS7Od

Pudge belongs to Bowling Green starting long-snapper George Carlson, who had no idea his orange-coated companion would turn into a campus celebrity.

"He's become part of the family," said Eddie George, Bowling Green's first-year head coach.

The former Tennessee Titans star is allergic to cats, yet even he rubs Pudge's back and has FaceTimed him with his kids. Pudge has also won over George's wife, singer Tamara Johnson-George, now one of his biggest fans.

Pudge's rapid rise to fame began last month.

On an off day after a notably grueling practice, Carlson brought him to the facility and set him at his locker. As Carlson's teammates trickled in for treatment and lunch, Pudge stole the show.

"When I saw Pudge I was super stoked," fullback Leo Kemp said. "He was such a spirit lifter."

Wide receiver Finn Hogan, who already had a sizable social media following, posted a video of Pudge with the caption: "Fall camp so rough we got a locker room cat. Emotional support animal." The Instagram reel generated 2 million views.

Days later, Kemp uploaded a TikTok video of Pudge and wrote "Y'all might have a 300 million dollar facility. But do you have a locker room cat?" It drew more than 300,000 likes, with comments from the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings accounts, lamenting why they hadn't thought to have a locker room cat first.

Pudge kept going viral -- and his Q rating soared.

"People just absolutely love him," Carlson said.

Bowling Green's marketing team sensed opportunity, offering fans a "Pudge" two-game ticket package: midfield seats to the Liberty game and to Central Michigan on Oct. 18.

The Falcons featured him on the "Simba Cam" during the season-opening victory over Lafayette. When a marketing intern lifted Pudge above her head on the sideline, the home crowd erupted.

Bowling Green secured him an all-access pass to its Week 2 trip to Cincinnati. Assistant athletic director Taylor Jefferson wore a "Pudge Security" shirt while escorting him around Nippert Stadium.

"I was never expecting Eddie George to take a backseat to any kind of storyline," Jefferson said of the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner. "But it's all about Pudge now."

Carlson's father, Jim, a veterinarian in McHenry, Illinois, drove Pudge to Cincinnati. He was looking for a pet-friendly hotel. But when the team hotel learned Pudge was in town, it waived its no pets allowed rule.

The morning of the game, George Carlson left Pudge in his room to eat breakfast with the team. But running backs coach Brian White sent him upstairs to get Pudge, so the cat could lap up "championship water" with the team.

#WakeUp Flying #CollegeGameDay #Week2 #PudgeTheCat #ChampionshipWater Great Day to be a Falcon! pic.twitter.com/nbzLC8i6jE

Life as a feline phenom comes with perks.

Both Temptations and Purina mailed him care packages, loaded with tasty treats.

Pudge recently had a meet-and-greet at a Toledo Mud Hens minor league baseball game, and he's been invited to appear at the International Cat Show & Expo in Cleveland next month.

An apparel company signed him to an NIL deal -- and Pudge shirts, hoodies and jerseys have already generated more than $1,500 in royalties.

Before kickoff Saturday, Bowling Green threw a Pudge tailgate party, where fans lined up for selfies.

"I'm just blown away by the popularity of him, but he's such a good sport about it," Jim Carlson said. "Cats aren't usually that social, and the fact that he is has just been magical."

EA Sports added him to College Football 25, where the "Pudge the Cat" ultimate team card provides a +1 toughness increase. The Falcons found out when one of the players stumbled onto the card while playing.

"He sent us a picture of his TV to our group chat -- and he's like, 'Uh, Pudge is in the video game?'" Hogan said. "Like no way they put Pudge in the game. We were all laughing."

Pudge has kept the Falcons laughing these past few weeks. But a year ago, he helped carry his owner through the toughest time of his life.

Cristen, George's mom, was the one who found Pudge -- though she never got to see how famous he'd become.

In 2021, Jim and Cristen traveled to Tennessee for their son's first game with the Falcons. Cristen felt ill afterward and thought she caught COVID. But while treating her, doctors found something else: Stage 4 ovarian cancer.

The diagnosis was devastating for the Carlsons, especially for George. The two were close, talking every day after he left for college.

"They had a special bond," Jim said.

Cristen helped make George's dream of playing college football possible. George was an offensive lineman in high school, but knew he'd never be big enough for the next level. So Cristen found a trainer to teach him how to long-snap.

"I wouldn't be here playing [at Bowling Green] without her," he said.

George and his sister, Avery, grew up on a small farm. Cristen, a former TV meteorologist who gave up her career to help Jim with the clinic and raise their kids, was always bringing home animals -- goats, pigs, cats. Jim couldn't bring himself to put down the cats their owners no longer wanted, so the Carlsons kept them, too.

"I can't recall a time that we never had a cat," Jim said. "We were foster failures -- we kept them their whole lives."

George shared their love for cats, namely the Persians with flat faces. While battling cancer, Cristen made it her mission to find him one. So two years ago, in a Chicago parking lot, she and Jim met a woman riding a scooter with a kitten in a basket wrapped in a blanket. It was Pudge.

"His face was so funny," George said. "When I got him, I was so happy."

Jim operated on Pudge's chubby nose to open his airways and allow him to breathe easily. Yet as Pudge thrived, Cristen's health worsened.

Last year, after Bowling Green's first preseason practice, George saw six missed calls on his phone. He immediately called his sister back. Their mom wasn't going to make it.

"Losing his mom ... left such a big void in his life," Jim said.

George rejoined the Falcons a week later, uncertain if he had the strength to keep playing. But he remembered what his mom often said: "The purring of a cat promotes healing." Studies show a cat's low-frequency vibrations can decrease a person's stress and calm the mind. In essence, Pudge helped George rediscover his joy in life.

"Every single day," he said, "he made me smile."

Lately, Pudge is making everyone smile -- and giving the upstart Falcons a spark.

On Saturday, Bowling Green welcomed its biggest home crowd, more than 23,000, in a decade. Students dressed up in cat costumes and held up cardboard cutouts of Pudge's face.

During a first-quarter timeout, Pudge was driven out to midfield in Bowling Green's Catmobile -- a golf cart adorned with whiskers, ears and paws.

The Falcons are planning on bringing their good luck charm on the road again this weekend to Louisville (Noon ET, ACC Network), pending the heat.

"There's a fun energy here," Jefferson said. "We've had huge student attendance and that's partially because of Pudge."

The Falcons haven't won a MAC title or finished with more than seven wins in a season since 2015.

But Pudge has shifted the vibe at Bowling Green. And the Falcons have a cuddly secret weapon by their side.

"He's brought me so much joy," Carlson said. "I'm so happy he's bringing that joy to others."