Thousands of high school football players across the country are taking the practice field, preparing to kick off the 2026 season in the coming weeks, but one young man in Arkansas recently had a practice experience unlike any other.
With the Maumelle High School football team split into position groups during practice, a player noticed there was movement inside his helmet. Obviously, nothing is supposed to be moving inside a football helmet, but when he handed the helmet over to a defensive coach, nobody could have predicted what was hidden inside.
According to NBC KARK, there was a two-foot-long snake hiding underneath the helmet’s padding. While there are plenty of high school football coaches who would have immediately tossed the helmet into the woods or taken care of the snake themselves, athletic director Kirk Horton called on Animal Services.
Flag of the state of Arkansas flies before a game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Stadium. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Officers for Animal Services received a report that the snake was a copperhead, which is venomous, but when they arrived to see it for themselves, it was identified as a cottonmouth, which is also venomous.
“It really was just shock and disbelief,” Horton told the outlet. “I’ve got a better shot at winning the lottery than seeing this in my ten years.”
Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that the player didn’t feel the movement inside of his helmet until an hour into practice. The snake did a great job hiding, as it wasn’t one of those situations where it was discovered while the team was stretching before getting practice underway.
A juvenile cottonmouth snake. (Photo by Hilda M.Perez/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Hilda M.Perez/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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“I’ve removed a snake out of a car vent, in the engine, purses, backpacks,” Animal Services Director Chris Davis told KATV. “In a helmet? Never.” He also noted that the cottonmouth is the second most venomous snake found in Arkansas, only behind the rattlesnake.
A cottonmouth or water moccasin snake. (Photo by Ed Sackett/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Ed Sackett/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Practicing football with a two-foot-long, deadly snake inside your helmet is the stuff of nightmares. Thankfully, the young man avoided an accident, but he also picked up a story he can tell for the rest of his life.
Animal Services relocated the snake, by the way, so for the folks concerned about the deadly animal, everything is okay.