'Another day in the (Smokies)': Bear dashes across Tennessee high school football field

Sorry, cub. This team already has a mascot.

A black bear captured on video running onto an East Tennessee high school football field apparently wanted to represent the team this week. Or perhaps it just wanted to play catch?

Video taken by Gatlinburg-Pittman High School Head Football Coach Brad Waggoner shows the bear briskly gallop across the field near the end zone at the school in the mountain town of Gatlinburg, known as a gateway to the roughly 520,000-acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

"Just another day in The Smoky Mountains," Waggoner posted on X, formerly called Twitter.

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This team already has a mascot

The coach told local station WBIR the sighting took place as the Highlanders (also the team's mascot name) geared up for practice. He told the outlet bear ran from the home stands onto to the field and over to the visitor stands.

The bear, he said, could not "find its way out for a bit" but it eventually left after about 10 minutes.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior trending and breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.