A high-flying tradition
One of college athletics’ most unique and goosebump-inducing traditions grew from modest origins. The first pre-football game flight in Auburn University history covered 60 yards, from the back of a Jordan-Hare Stadium end zone to a lure near midfield, and lasted all of six seconds.
War Eagle IV, a golden eagle better known to Auburn fans as “Tiger,” glided no more than a couple feet above the stadium turf once she left her handler’s long leather gauntlet. But that first flight, made possible by the Auburn University Raptor Center on a muggy August night before the 2000 football season opener, tapped into something special. From that first flight emerged a gameday tradition that draws fans from campus tailgates to the stands well in advance off kickoff.
It’s a must-see moment for 88,043 spectators, who watch with anticipation as the eagle’s release point is revealed. The flight path is as unpredictable as the game itself, yet the landing is as precise as the crowd’s unified cry: ‘Warrrr Eagle, Hey!’ Auburn fans understand the majesty of these raptors and embrace their role as environmental stewards. We shout, ‘War Eagle!’ not just with passion — but with purpose.
Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Calvin Johnson
In the 25 years that have followed Tiger’s first ground-skimming journey of 180 feet, the pregame flights have become a tradition that connects multiple generations of Auburn fans and builds awareness of the Raptor Center’s role in rehabilitating thousands of injured raptors. Here’s a look at how the pregame tradition originated and how it has grown:
Cleared for takeoff
2000
The notion of introducing an eagle to the Auburn game day started with a phone call to Auburn University Athletics from a former AU administrator who had attended the 1999 national championship game between Tennessee and Florida State at the Fiesta Bowl. The bowl committee commissioned a bald to free fly in the stadium during the national anthem. The former AU staffer suggested to then-Auburn Athletics Director David Housel that a pregame eagle flight would connect to The Auburn Creed – “a spirit that is not afraid” – and the story of War Eagle I in a powerful way.
“In the summer 2000, we were asked to investigate this and find out what it takes to make it happen,” then-Associate Athletics Director for Operations Jay Jacobs told the “Auburn Undercover Podcast” in February 2025.
Jacobs eventually learned that Auburn University already had an eagle on campus in the care of the Raptor Center. “We were told to contact this gentleman [Joe Shellnutt] at the Raptor Center,” Jacobs said. “We told him what we wanted to do and he said, ‘What we’ll do is release the eagle from the goalpost where the team runs out and let it fly to the 50-yard line.’”
Most of the 76,128 fans who had settled into their seats for that Thursday night ESPN-televised game against Wyoming weren’t quite sure what they were in for when the stadium announcer directed them to turn their attention to the field. As the crowd swirled orange and blue shakers and joined the Auburn cheerleaders in a prolonged “Waaaaaaaaaar” chant, Tiger began her low-altitude journey.
“People erupted and went crazy,” Jacobs recalled.
During a debrief about the first flight, Jacobs said Shellnutt suggested the flight would be more spectacular if the eagle could be released from a higher perch to get “more wind under its wings.”
Tiger certainly enjoyed the higher altitude assignment – perhaps a bit too much in the beginning.
“I’m on the east side of the stadium anticipating this eagle flying out,” Jacobs recalled on the podcast. “It took off from the east side and it went all the way outside the stadium on the west side outside of the light posts. I turned to somebody and said, ‘That bird is going to end up at Lake Martin.’ I don’t know how many shades of white or red I turned. Joe just kept on swinging that bait at the 50-yard line. Tiger came around right by the scoreboard and – boom! — landed.
“It’s one of the most spectacular pregame events in college football,” he said.
Through the years
2002
On February 8, Tiger introduced Auburn’s tradition to a global television audience by taking flight as part of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Five months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the opening ceremony featured tributes to first responders and a torn American flag recovered from the World Trade Center wreckage.
Tiger entered the stadium during the artistic portion of the ceremonies that included a 15-foot-long bison and a troupe of dancing pioneer settlers. NBC’s broadcast achieved record-breaking viewership in the United States, with more than 45.6 million tuning in, but Tiger was unfazed.
“She has performed in front of more than one million people in her career,” NBC’s Katie Couric told viewers.
Tiger was also ready for her close-up the following day on NBC’s “Today Show.”
Spirit, the university’s first bald eagle, made her debut pregame flight at the Syracuse game on September 28. Discovered in Florida as a fledgling in 1995, Spirit was unable to hunt for food because of a beak deformity and came to Auburn in 1998.
2004
Nova, a golden eagle hatched in 1999 at the Montgomery Zoo and deemed non-releasable due to human imprinting, made his first pregame flight at the Kentucky game on October 23. Checking in at 6.5 pounds with a 6-foot wingspan, Nova was slightly smaller than some of his predecessors, but had plenty of personality and pluck. Auburn won his first flyover game, 42-10, on the way to a 13-0 season.
2005
Tiger earned induction into the Alabama Animal Hall of Fame.
When the Edgar B. Carter Educational Amphitheatre opened in 2005, the Raptor Center began welcoming visitors to “Football, Fans and Feathers.” Held on Fridays before football home games, the event offers close-up views and educational overviews of eagles, falcons, hawks and other raptors. What started with perhaps a dozen onlookers now draws hundreds of visitors.
2006
After seven seasons of entertaining fans with soaring and swooping passes around Jordan-Hare Stadium, Tiger retired to enjoy her golden years at the Raptor Center. Tiger was honored before the November 11 game against Georgia. During halftime of the game, Nova, was named her successor as War Eagle VII. During Tiger’s tenure, Auburn went 174-69-4 with four Southeastern Conference titles, six SEC Western Division crowns and a pair of undefeated seasons.
Tiger continued to make non-flying appearances at Auburn University and wildlife education events.
2013
Every Auburn fan remembers the ending of the November Iron Bowl — Chris Davis’ circuitous, game-ending return of a missed field goal in the “Kick Six” win over Alabama – but the beginning is less clear. Here’s a look back at Nova’s pregame flight.
2014
Tiger passed away in June at the age of 34 as one of the oldest eagles living in human care.
2015
A golden eagle found near Selma, Alabama, was brought to the Raptor Center with an injury to her right wing. The patient’s health was restored by Auburn University veterinarians, but the aftermath of her injury contributed to additional drag during her flights. Thus, “Aurea,” as she came to be known, found a new home with the Raptor Center after being deemed unfit for release and eventually took on a game day role.
2016
An ESPN “college football roundtable” conference-by-conference discussion of best pregame traditions came away with a clear winner in the Southeastern Conference: Auburn’s War Eagle.
ESPN writer Edward Aschoff described what sets Auburn’s tradition apart from those of its league rivals: “It’s tough to pull of consistent tricks with live mascots, but Auburn’s golden eagles have a long and illustrious history of soaring around a raucous Jordan-Hare Stadium and landing at midfield before every Auburn home game, which always sends Tigers fans into a frenzy.”
2017
After 58 pregame flights, a stretch that saw the Auburn football team go 44-14, Nova was sidelined due to a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, or chronic disease of the heart. Nova’s reign as War Eagle VII saw Auburn go 107-59, play in a pair of national championship games and earn a national title. Nova continued to delight and educate in retirement, appearing in nearly 2,000 educational programs across the region.
2018
Checking in at 7.7 pounds with a 6.5-foot wingspan, Aurea completed her first stadium flight on November 17 before the Auburn-Liberty game.
The Raptor Center also welcomed a bald eagle, Independence, from a Florida rehabilitation center where she had been admitted as a fledgling with a wing injury.
2019
Aurea was officially named War Eagle VIII on November 22.
2020
Auburn’s pregame flights and Tiger Walk tradition were put on hold as college football conferences tried to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The Southeastern Conference restricted live animals from being used on the field during the season.
2021
Independence makes her first appearance at an Auburn football game, completing a pre-game flight before a September 4 win over Akron. Raptor Center Assistant Director of Training & Education Amanda Sweeney recalled in a 2024 interview with the Auburn Plainsman how meaningful it was to see Independence in flight after the season-long pandemic pause in 2020.
“It still brings a chill to me and I remember getting a tear as she was soaring around and everyone was cheering because they matter so much to us, but it’s also so amazing that they matter so much to the Auburn family,” she said.
2022
The Raptor Center celebrates its 50th anniversary as a national leader in raptor medicine, research, conservation and educational programming.