Pudge the Cat becomes viral sensation, serving as university football team’s morale booster

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG/Gray News) - Bowling Green State University’s football team has a viral sensation on their hands: Pudge, their locker room cat.

“He’s been a complete joy to me and I’m happy I’m spreading that joy to everybody else,” George Carlson, Pudge’s owner and the team’s long snapper, said.

Carlson said he started bringing his cat, Pudge, a 3-year-old exotic shorthair Persian, into the locker room on off days this year to boost morale.

“We had a practice, a player went down, and a lot of people were pretty sad and down and the next day we had an off day and I thought, you know, what better thing to bring in than my tiny little cat?” Carlson said.

The team quickly adopted Pudge as one of their own.

“I would say it’s an unlikely combo … you don’t think you’re going to see a 300-pound-plus man holding a small cat or petting a little kitty, it doesn’t match up with how the personalities are,” Carlson said.

The odd pairing captured the hearts of students on campus and beyond.

Gabby Vallongo, a student at the university, first saw Pudge on TikTok, but hopes to see him in person.

“I think Pudge the cat is amazing. I think it’s so cool we have a cat on campus,” Vallongo said.

Other students, like sophomore Dontae Martin, agreed.

“I thought he was chill, I thought he was cute, seemed like a nice thing to have in their locker room,” Martin said.

Kylee Biescczad, another sophomore, said she was happy to see a part of the university go viral.

“It brought a lot of attention to BG football,” Biescczad said.

Other students hoped that Pudge would launch a trend of locker room cats at other colleges.

“I feel like everyone should,” Jackie Scialabba, a junior, said.

Carlson said that some people consider Pudge to be the team’s unofficial mascot. The orange cat represents half of the university’s official colors.

“Orange eyes, orange fur, he’s the theme,” Carlson said. “It’s kind of funny how that worked out.”

Carlson said the fame hasn’t gone to Pudge’s head.

“He doesn’t know what’s going on a lot, I think, he kind of just … chills out, enjoys life,” Carlson said.

Carlson said the cat remains his calm but goofy self and is always ready to take pictures and meet people on campus.

“I’m happy everybody loves him as much as I do,” Carlson said.

Pudge the Cat now has his own Instagram account, UnclePudgy. Official T-shirts featuring the famous feline can be found on his account.