Oregon Duck loses head in skydiving stunt for College GameDay

By KVAL News Published: Nov 16, 2012 at 5:15 PM PDT Last Updated: Nov 17, 2012 at 12:33 AM PDT

CRESWELL, Ore. - Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird ... well, sort of.

ESPN College GameDay got Eugene Skydivers to perform an exhibition skydive featuring the Oregon Duck mascot - or most of the mascot, at least: Puddles may have lost his head.

The nationally televised program hired Eugene Skydivers to have the Duck make a solo skydive from 7,000-feet.

The jump took place Friday afternoon.

Urban Moore, owner of Eugene Skydivers, had concerns about safely skydiving in the mascot outfit but was excited.

"We're pretty excited to work with ESPN College GameDay," Moore said. "This is the type of jump that a skydiver lives for."

As the mascot came in for a landing, it became clear the skydivers had to make some allowances for safety: while the colors are clearly the Duck, the skydiver was not wearing the Duck's head or feet.

That may not have been intentional.

"BREAKING NEWS; The ORE Duck head is missing," GameDay host Chris Fowler tweeted. "While skydiving today, it came loose & plummeted to earth. A search is ongoing. No joke.

"To clarify," Fowler tweeted moments later, "the lost Duck head is only the third string model. No panic in Eugene. But the depth is impacted."

About 25 minutes later he tweeted an update: "ORE Duck head has been recovered. In one piece. A good samaritan happened upon it and returned it. Crisis averted."