SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Eight players from both Oregon and Texas had what might be the highlight of their Alamo Bowl trip on Friday morning.
The eight Oregon players were instructed to meet in their hotel lobby at 8:30 Friday morning to drive about 17 miles west in the rainy San Antonio weather to SeaWorld, where they’d interact with several sea mammals. They rode to the amusement park in a white Hummer limousine. Texas arrived in a Daisy Tours charter bus.
The eight Oregon players were freshman wide receiver Devon Allen, freshman defensive lineman Jason Sloan, redshirt sophomore defensive back Bronson Yim, freshman punter Ian Wheeler, sophomore defensive back Bobby Dunn, redshirt freshman kicker Hayden Crook, redshirt junior kicker Eric Solis and former Ducks linebacker Carlyle Garrick.
The eight Texas players were senior linebacker Demarco Cobbs, freshman linebacker Deoundrei Davis, junior wide receiver Bryant Jackson, freshman wide receiver Michael Zaring, junior cornerback Sheriod Evans, freshman offensive guard Rami Hammad, freshman safety Eric Huhn and junior fullback Chet Moss.
Sloan, Yim, Solis and Garrick split up from the other four Ducks to go to the walrus/sea lion exhibit. First, they fed a large group of sea lions, dropping fish from several feet up into the animals’ mouths. They then headed over to the walrus exhibit, where they would participate in a sit-up contest with Takena, a 26 year-old, 2,000-pound female walrus.
Yim decided not to go with his teammates into the exhibit. The redshirt sophomore tore his labrum and was wearing a cast on his left arm. He said he didn’t want to risk hurting it more, “in case something happens” with Takena.
Yim wasn’t the only one worried about a potential attack from the walrus. Garrick, with a somewhat frightened look on his face, pushed Sloan forward to be the first Duck to do the sit-up contest. When asked if he was scared of Takena, Garrick scoffed.
“C’mon man, I’m a football player,” Garrick said.
Garrick paused for a second, then said, “I was a little scared.”
Sloan and Hammad both lay on their backs with their heads turned away from Takena. They were the only players to do sit-ups with her, too, because she wasn’t initially following directions from trainer Joe Miller.
“I was scared out of my mind,” Sloan said. “And then after I got down there, I started getting close to (Takena) and wasn’t that nervous. But then she started not listening to the trainer and that freaked me out a little bit because if she’s not listening to the trainer, I don’t know what she’s going to do.”
Sloan eventually calmed down and the three did three sit-ups.
Everyone then headed to the beluga whale tanks, where the other four players from each team were getting ready to go in the water with two whales. Dunn, Allen, Crook and Wheeler — all wearing wet suits — interacted with the heavier one (it weighed about 2,000 pounds). Before they headed into the pool, Garrick wished his four teammates luck with the intimidating whale.
“Hopefully we’ll see you later,” Garrick said.
The players played games with the whale, spinning around with it, splashing it, hugging it and much more.
“They’re really squishy,” Wheeler said of the whales. “It’s kind of crazy how it felt.”
Allen said the pool felt like one of their bi-weekly ice baths after practice. His teeth were jittering after the whale splashed them all.
Despite the cool, wet conditions, the players raved about their experience. Several of them said it’s the best thing they’ve done so far in their two days in San Antonio.
At 11:00, the players got back in their limo and headed back to their downtown hotel. While SeaWorld might be their best experience so far, not all of them expect it to remain on the top of the list.
“The game’s definitely going to be my highlight,” Wheeler said.
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415