Players Appearing in Orange Bowl to Receive Bobbleheads of Themselves

By Joseph Myers

In college football’s treasured annals, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the University of Oklahoma Sooners have garnered unshakable renown due to their perennial status as championship contenders. Given the programs’ prestige, the organizers behind the Orange Bowl decided to add personalized novelty to the schools’ December 29 College Football Playoff matchup, as each student-athlete will receive a bobblehead crafted in his likeness.

We often engage in forecasts and predictions regarding the future of promotional products, and bobbleheads always come to mind because of our fixation on sports. No matter the pastime, front office folks have treated fans to some interesting wobbly keepsakes. So since college football’s bowl season typically aims to pair the competitors with sweet swag, the Orange Bowl’s overseers—having already won praise from Sports Illustrated—figure to become pretty endearing to the combatants no matter the outcome.

Of course, there is so much riding on said conclusion, as the winner will face either Clemson University or the University of Notre Dame for the national title on Jan. 7. We can just see the Orange Bowl’s victors showing a little extra pride in having a promotional depiction of themselves to take to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

#KylerKnows SI covers.
#OUDNA #BoomerSooner
https://t.co/0FyV1z135b pic.twitter.com/yUmw7lGQYT

— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) December 14, 2018

Congrats, to all our guys for making AFCA All-America teams!#OutworkYesterday #RollTide⁠ pic.twitter.com/fftU5Rqq8v

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) December 12, 2018

Regarding the bobbleheads, they will join life-size Fathead wall creations that will go to the Quick Lane Bowl’s squads as personalized tokens of early winter postseason play. We have not seen the goodies yet, but considering the successful histories of the foes, which include stellar campaigns by Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray and Alabama signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa, who finished first and second in this year’s Heisman Trophy voting, we dearly hope the creators took special care in designing the commemorative items. We have encountered tales of athletes who have not been too pleased with bobblehead-based representations, so although a miscue would not be as crushing as a loss in the Orange Bowl, we definitely would not want players’ expectations and the products to be like apples and oranges.