Well, I reckon y’all wanna know about that robot they been showin’ on Fox during the NFL games, right? That fella’s name’s Cleatus. Yep, Cleatus the Robot. Now, I ain’t no expert, but I remember seein’ him dancin’ and movin’ ‘round on the screen for the first time, and it kinda caught me by surprise. Ain’t every day you see a robot havin’ such a good time on TV, I tell ya.
Now, Cleatus wasn’t always called Cleatus. Nope, not at first. Back in the day, when they first introduced him in 2005, he was just some fancy animation with no name. He’d pop up every now and then durin’ the football games, dancin’ ‘round like he was havin’ a grand ol’ time, but folks didn’t know what to call him. It wasn’t until 2007 when they finally gave him a name, and that’s when things started gettin’ real interesting. A fan poll picked the name, and from that moment on, Cleatus was born.
Let me tell ya, Cleatus wasn’t just some regular robot. He was the face of Fox Sports and made his big debut as the official mascot for Fox NFL Sunday. I reckon people got so used to seein’ him on the screen, dancin’ and doin’ all sorts of wild moves, that he became a symbol of the whole NFL experience on Fox. Folks loved him, I’m tellin’ ya. He became so popular, they couldn’t get enough of him.
But here’s somethin’ y’all might not know. This robot didn’t just appear outta nowhere. Nah, he was created by a whole team of folks, led by a fella named Tim Miller. Now, Tim Miller went on to do some big things in Hollywood, but back then, he was workin’ with a studio called Blur Studios. They were the ones that made Cleatus come to life. They did the motion capture for the robot, which is fancy talk for how they made him move like he was real. So, when you saw him dancin’ ‘round on the TV, it wasn’t just some computer magic—it was real human effort behind it.
If you look at Cleatus, you’ll see he’s all made of plastic, mostly dark gray with some white and yellow highlights. He’s got that big ol’ number 34 on him, which is in honor of Walter Payton, a real big name in football. Now, Walter Payton, he was one of the best to ever play the game, and for Fox Sports to honor him like that, well, it just made sense. The robot even wore the number 34 to pay tribute to Payton, who passed away some years back. I reckon it’s a nice gesture, don’t you?
But, I gotta say, there’s a sad part to the story, too. Cleatus, like all good things, didn’t last forever. Last year, word got out that Cleatus had passed away. It turns out, he’d been sufferin’ from some brain issues, a thing called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which is caused by repeated head injuries. Now, I’m no doctor, but I reckon that’s a tough thing to go through. And that’s how Cleatus met his end—he took his own life, which was mighty sad, especially since he’d been such a big part of folks’ Sundays for so long.
But you know, Cleatus still lives on in a way. He’ll always be remembered as that funky robot that danced his heart out every Sunday. If you watch Fox Sports during the NFL season, you might still see some of his old footage, and folks still talk about him like he’s family. Ain’t that somethin’?
So, there ya go. That’s the story of Cleatus the Robot. From a nameless dancing animation to the face of Fox NFL Sunday, he brought a lot of joy to folks who watched football. I reckon he’ll always be remembered, even though he’s gone.
Rest in peace, Cleatus.
Tags：[Cleatus, Fox Sports, NFL, robot mascot, Walter Payton, football, CTE, Tim Miller, Blur Studios]
