Brian Kelly comments on Louisiana Governor wanting live Mike the Tiger at LSU games

Earlier this week, Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana, is petitioning for the return of Mike the Tiger, the live mascot of LSU, to games in Death Valley. As such, Brian Kelly has given his own take on the matter.

Kelly received a question about the presence of the live tiger at their home games during his press conference on Thursday. However, he left those answers to the school as well as decision-makers, such as the animal’s veterinarians, to handle that discussion and decision.

CLICK HERE to go to PrizePicks and use code ON3 to receive a guaranteed $50 once you play $5 in lineups!

“I heard about it all on Twitter,” said Kelly. “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.”

Save $30 on your first month of Fubo by CLICKING HERE NOW! For a limited time, you can get your first month of Fubo for as low as $49.99. Stream ESPN, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and 200+ top channels of live TV and sports without cable. (Participating plans only. Taxes and fees may apply.)

Mike VII, the current mascot at LSU, arrived back in 2017. With him, though, came the change in policy that he and future tigers would not be in attendance for home games in football. The school did so in order to best show their responsibility and care toward the exotic creature and their sanctuary.

This comes after LSU had previously transported the animals into trailers and had them in it on the sidelines for games in Tiger Stadium. That tradition also included some away games.

Now, Governor Landry is looking to add that aspect back into the home environment at LSU.

“Landry and three conservative state officials who are also veterinarians — Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, state Sen. Bill Wheat, R-Ponchatoula, and state Rep. Wayne McMahen, R-Minden — met recently with Oliver Garden, dean of LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine. In an interview Tuesday, McMahen confirmed with the Illuminator that bringing Mike VII to football games was discussed in the meeting,” Piper Hutchinson wrote on Tuesday at the Louisiana Illuminator.

That article continued with the suggestions of veterinary professionals about the potential attendance or Mike VII.

“LSU will not bring Mike VII to the Nicholls game and is not in discussions to bring Mike to any games this season,” stated Ginger Guttner, a spokeswoman at the LSU veterinary school.

“I just think that the concerns that the (LSU veterinarians) expressed was, how are we going to train an eight- or nine-year-old tiger without stressing him and jeopardizing his health,” McMahen said “If you had a young tiger — and that’s one of the things I told the governor — you know, you had a young tiger that was trained to handle those situations. But to take a middle-aged tiger that has been captive in a certain way … I think it’d be a struggle.”

With animal rights activists having concerns about the tiger being there to begin with, PETA has also since addressed this matter in Baton Rouge.

As neat as this would be, there’s a lot to logistically look at in bringing a big cat like that back into an environment like an LSU gameday. That’s why Kelly is leaving all tiger-related topics to those who know better than him on the matter.