Since 2020, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl has been a fan-favorite of bowl season due to the wacky postgame festivities involved in the game. And this year, it got even wackier with the implementation of a celebrity mascot, whose identity was revealed after the game. The reveal garnered quite the reaction from Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck.
Fleck and the Golden Gophers reigned supreme over Virginia Tech in a 24-10 victory, meaning that Fleck got to take part in the annual postgame tradition of taking a mayonnaise bath.
But before this, Fleck got to greet the man underneath “Tubby”, the ceremonial mascot of the Mayo Bowl, which was none other than… Flavor Flav…
“We have to unveil the surprise of who is underneath here,” said ESPN sideline reporter Harry Lyles Jr. “Tubby, you want to reveal yourself?”
“Yeahhhh boyyyyy,” said Flava Flav as he took off the Tubby costume.
As soon as he saw Flava Flav unveil his costume, Fleck was perhaps as excited as anyone who has ever met Flava Flav, copying the artist’s catchphrase after an embrace.
“Yeahhhh boyyyyyy,” yelled Fleck as he hugged Flava Flav.
“Flava Flav in the building at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl,” Flava Flav responded. “Welcome champions!”
“It’s Flava Flav, holy crap,” added Fleck.
The Duke’s Mayo celebrity mascot is — Flava Flav.
Flava Flav: FLAVA FLAV IN THE BUILDING AT THE DUKE’S MAYO BOWL. Welcome champions.
P.J. Fleck: IT’S FLAVA FLAV! HOLY CRAP. pic.twitter.com/GPMLWWdRrn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 4, 2025
Flava Flav is certainly an interesting choice to be the Duke’s Mayo Bowl celebrity mascot considering he isn’t exactly known for any recently made music.
But considering Fleck is 44 years of age, he is certainly in the right age range that likely grew up on Flava Flav’s music in the 1990s and early 2000s.
It was a night that Fleck will likely never forget for more than one reason. Not only did he clearly love meeting Flava Flav, he was then ushered over to the splash zone where he became the fifth coach to have a bucket full of mayonnaise dumped on him, which he took like a champ.
After teasing that he was gonna wear a cap, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck tosses it away, taking the Mayo dump with no protection on his head.
He caps off the experience with a messy embrace of ESPN’s Harry Lyles Jr. pic.twitter.com/7HpZrYMPJq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 4, 2025
