Being a student-athlete is a full-time job, especially for college football players, and it requires a daily grind unlike their academic counterparts. Take Montana State, for example.
The Bobcats are currently 2-1 this season with a close loss to No. 1 South Dakota State. They are the third-ranked team on the FCS level and have legitimate national championship hopes.
Part of that hope stems from the amount of work they are putting in. The grind is very real in Bozeman!
Although the early mornings are always worth it come game time on Saturdays, waking up and reporting to the team facility before sunrise is never fun. Especially when there is someone there waiting for you with bad intentions, as was the case earlier this week.
Players started rolling in for a 6:00 a.m. practice and were met with an unwelcome surprise. If they weren’t awake beforehand, they most certainly were awake by the time that they walked through the doors.
On a normal day, a mannequin with the team’s uniform for the upcoming week stands inside the double doors. On this day, the dummy was replaced by a Montana State creative who was dressed in the team uniform.
As each player walked inside to begin their morning, they were met by the question of the day: “do you believe in ghosts?” The social media team set up a camera to film their answers, but that was not the real purpose.
It was the classic mannequin prank!
Players were greeted by the fake mannequin, who came out and scared them half to death.
Most of them jumped. Some of them screamed. A few of them even ended up on the floor.
This is not the first mannequin prank in college football. It won’t be the last.
That being said, though, Montana State’s execution is one of the best. They got multiple players, spliced it together and kept things moving with quick-pace cuts.
The Bobcats travel to Weber State this weekend for a top-10 matchup against the No. 8-ranked Wildcats. They will try to channel some of those jump scares from earlier in the week and use it as power to instill the same fear into their opponents.