Sports

Venomous snake hides in football player’s helmet during practice — while he wears it

Published

2 hours ago

August 12, 2026

On Aug. 6, a high school football player in Maumelle, Ark., practiced as he would any other day. Except that day, he had a passenger coiled inside his helmet.

A venomous one. For quite a while.

“You’ve seen them on movies and TVs and all that stuff. Snakes getting into peculiar places,” Chris Davis, Maumelle’s director of animal services, told The Athletic. “A helmet, so be it. It doesn’t sound like it’s out of the ordinary, but what’s shocking was this kid had worn the helmet for at least an hour, if not longer.”

The Maumelle High student-athlete initially felt something odd when putting the helmet on but continued practicing, Davis said. At some point, it felt unusual enough for him to bring it to a coach for examination when the snake’s head was discovered peeking through the padding in the helmet. Animal services was called.

Arkansas high school football player practices with snake in helmet

What the coaches and players initially thought was a copperhead, one of the more commonly encountered venomous snakes in the U.S., was determined to be a 2-foot cottonmouth that had nestled behind the padding of the helmet.

Cottonmouths — semiaquatic snakes also known as water moccasins — are in the top three most commonly encountered venomous snakes in Arkansas, Davis said.

Without the proper tools on site, animal services had to take it back to the shelter and flood the helmet to flush the snake out. Once it emerged, they quickly determined why they thought the “early adulthood” snake had made its way into the headgear.

“One of the officers noticed that it, due to it being big and fat, may have recently ate a couple of days before,” Davis said. “It probably was trying to find a dark spot to digest the food, and when it was coming across, it saw a helmet lying on the ground.”

A cottonmouth snake hides behind the padding of a football helmet.

A cottonmouth snake hid behind the padding of a football helmet to digest a meal. (Chris Davis / Maumelle Animal Services)

A helmet isn’t a large space for a snake to burrow into, but they are adept at finding their way into tight spaces.

“That’s why we have weather stripping on our doors,” Davis said. “The smallest spots, they can slither in if they would like to.”

Davis assured that cottonmouths, though venomous, are not typically aggressive unless threatened.

Though the player was stunned by the intrusion into his protective gear, it wasn’t enough to bring him off the field. As far as Davis was told, once the ordeal was handled, the player simply asked for a different helmet and returned to practice.

He got his head back in the game — this time, without a visitor.

Sports

Aston Villa: Unai Emery chases his first Super Cup

Published

33 seconds ago

August 12, 2026

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Wednesday’s game between Villa and PSG is a repeat of the Champions League quarter-final from 2024-25.

Trailing 3-1 from the first leg at Parc des Princes and falling 5-1 behind on aggregate in Birmingham, Villa were so close to pulling of a huge shock.

They roared back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 on the night, eventually bowing out 5-4 on aggregate, and it was one of the biggest signs Emery had turned them into a side which could compete with Europe’s best.

It is something which has stuck in the minds of the PSG players, with Vitinha wary of Villa’s threat.

“It was such a difficult test, especially the second half,” said Vitinha.

“We’ll be ready but we’re conscious of how difficult it’s going to be.”

Villa’s line-up in Austria will have a drastically different look, just 484 days since that game.

Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Youri Tielemans have been sold while Amadou Onana is out injured until next year.

Fellow midfielder Boubacar Kamara is in the squad, but is only just returning from a serious knee injury he suffered in January.

Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins have not travelled after playing at the World Cup, with Emery giving them a month off.

It means there is a chance just four of the starters who faced the French champions 18 months ago will start for Villa. Five of the substitutes that night are also no longer at the club.

For a team so settled and consistent as Villa under Emery that is a drastic change.

“A lot has changed in the eight years I’ve been here,” said skipper McGinn.

“When you are signing the best young English talent and players are performing at the highest level there will be interest.

“We have a structure in place, standards and rules which have made us a success. I’m really excited about the new Aston Villa.

“We have our main core, the same manager, same methods and same desire to achieve more. A lot of people thought we reached a ceiling a couple of seasons ago and we proved them wrong.”

Sports

BBC Sport quiz: Who am I? Guess The Hundred star cricketer No 23

Published

7 minutes ago

August 12, 2026

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Welcome to our special cricket edition of our Who am I? game.

The rules are simple. Each day of The Hundred there’s a new cricketer, taking part in the tournament, who we want you to guess in as few attempts as possible.

After each wrong guess you unlock a new clue. Guess the answer after as few clues as possible to score more points.

Three is a good score, four or five points is exceptional.

So take part and return for more tomorrow.

Today’s player and clues set by BBC Sport’s Henry Cowling.

After more quizzes? Go to our dedicated Sports Quizzes page and sign up for notifications to get the latest quizzes sent straight to your device.

Sports

Craig Bellamy: Collapsed Burnley move puts Wales in ‘hard position’ – Nathan Blake

Published

14 minutes ago

August 12, 2026

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Wales are winless in four matches in 2026 and missed out on qualification for the World Cup after losing to Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties in the play-off semi-finals in March.

Speaking before his side’s friendly fixtures against Ghana and Romania in June, Bellamy confirmed he had rejected club offers to commit his future to Wales.

But just weeks after the Red Dragons drew 1-1 with Ghana in Cardiff and lost 2-1 to Romania in Bucharest, it emerged that Bellamy was closing in on a return to Burnley, where he worked as an assistant to Vincent Kompany between 2022 and 2024.

Since it was confirmed Bellamy would not be joining Burnley, Wales assistant boss Piet Cremers has departed the FAW to become Club NXT boss while Chris Gunter left his role as head coach of the under-19s to join Oxford United.

Former Wales international Nia Jones feels Bellamy has bridges to build as his side prepare for a return to competitive action next month.

“[After] Turkey, his first game, he famously said it will be the worst we’ll ever be. It gets you excited, you’d want to go to war with him,” she said.

“The Bosnia game, he said we’re going all out, but we went out. He keeps saying things, and the more you say things and don’t back it up… He has got a tough job with the Nations League group, but the carrot that’s dangling is a home Euros for him.

“He’s got a bit of making up to do now given what’s happened in the last couple of months.”

Wales begin their Nations League campaign against Portugal in Lisbon on 24 September before facing Denmark in Copenhagen three days later.

Bellamy’s side then meet Norway and Denmark at Cardiff City Stadium in October.

The final two matches of the campaign take place in November with Wales travelling to Norway before hosting Portugal.