Brian Kelly addresses report live tiger will be inside Tiger Stadium for Alabama-LSU: 'I'm a tiger fan, period'

LSU caused a stir this week as it was reported that the university will bring back the tradition of having a live tiger on the field before football games. LSU hosts Alabama this weekend.

And though the move caused some mixed reaction — even with LSU’s administration, as the school moved away from the tradition in recent years — Kelly seems to know where his bread is buttered, and how not to cause a stir. Speaking on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday, Kelly was brief in his response when asked about the plans.

“I’m a tiger fan, period,” Kelly said.

On Saturday night, the tiger that will be wheeled around Tiger Stadium will not actually be the live Mike The Tiger mascot that LSU keeps on campus, across from the football stadium. After a push from the governors office, LSU will allow an out-of-state tiger from a wildlife refuge be used for the proceedings.

Though Kelly made sure to talk up the digs that are on hand for the various Mikes — LSU is currently on Mike VII.

“I love the habitat over there, the way we do things over there,” Kelly said. “I mean, did you know those rocks are cooling rocks and heated rocks?” 

McAfee evidently did not, and expressed some surprise.

“Why not?” Kelly said. “Only the best.”

The decision to have a live tiger drew the ire of PETA

In its statement, PETA cited the “chaos and stress” a live tiger faces in front of so many people. It also criticized LSU for agreeing to the governor’s idea to bring the animal to the game.

“It’s shameful and out of touch with today’s respect for wild species that LSU has bowed to Gov. Jeff Landry’s campaign to display a live tiger at its football games to amuse the fans,” the statement read. “LSU rightly ended this idiotic, archaic practice nearly a decade ago after recognizing that it was cruel to subject a sensitive big cat to the noise, lights, and crowds in a football stadium.

“Whether the tiger is confined to campus or shipped in from elsewhere, no reputable facility would subject a tiger to such chaos and stress, and PETA and nearly 50,000 of its supporters have already called on Landry to let up and leave big cats alone—and are now urging LSU to grow a spine and just say no.”

In September, Kelly was asked about the possibility of a live tiger at games after Landry broached the subject. He left those answers to the school as well as decision-makers, such as the animal’s veterinarians, to handle that discussion and decision.

“I heard about it all on Twitter,” Kelly said. “I don’t have any comments, obviously, on that. That is something that I’ll let our university and those that are much more educated on that to come up with a statement and make decisions on that. That is something that I just don’t have enough information on.”