Dave Portnoy caught and freed a bird that had entered his house during Monday's episode of 'Wake Up Barstool.' Screen grab: Wake Up Barstool
By Ben Axelrod on

In the two months since its debut, Dave Portnoy has continued to tinker with the Monday episodes of Wake Up Barstool.

This week’s edition, however, was interrupted by an unexpected visitor, with the Barstool Sports founder revealing that a bird had entered the house where he was co-hosting the show remotely.

Portnoy first made mention of the bird — “a little tweety bird” — in the middle of a segment regarding the college football weekend that was. The Boston native expressed concern about how his dogs would handle the intruder, stating that “all hell is going to break loose in here.”

Fortunately for the FS1 morning show, the situation never escalated to that point. While Portnoy’s feed was briefly interrupted — a technical difficulty his co-hosts were quick to blame the bird for — he returned to reveal that he had both captured and freed the bird using a mixing bowl and cutting board.

“I’m an absolute man!” Portnoy proclaimed while interrupting as segment debating Notre Dame and Texas’ respective resumes. “I took these two tools, captured the bird in between like that, took the bird outside and freed it into nature. People [say], ‘oh, Dave can’t hammer.’ Well Dave just caught a bird in the wild and let it loose and saved its life without harming a feather on it… that was an unbelievable act of just being a man.”

After co-host T-Bob Hebert questioned whether the 48-year-old was becoming an outdoorsman, Portnoy made note of his camo hat.

“It’s all I do,” he said. “Even I couldn’t believe I captured that bird that quickly.”

While Wake Up Barstool has largely been overshadowed by its lackluster ratings (which Portnoy has disputed), this was undoubtedly an entertaining segment. Maybe the key to the show isn’t more Dan “Big Cat” Katz, as Colin Cowherd has suggested. Perhaps the FS1 morning program’s true calling lies within Portnoy embracing his inner outdoorsman.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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