Just prior to the biggest college football game in history this weekend, the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, the U.S. Air Force Wings of Blue Skydive Unit cadets skydived from the Goodyear Blimp – the first skydive from the Goodyear Blimp in 51 years – to deliver the game ball. In this video, the three Air Force Academy cadets jettisoned from the Blimp 2,600 ft. down to the outside of the stadium:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl9qr4rxmsI]
The video does the jump no justice. Here is the view from the ground up, the tiny white spec is one of the cadets:
The skydive was the kickoff to the first football game ever played inside a NASCAR track, between the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. The biggest game in college football history set an attendance record with 156,990 spectators.
The skydive embodies the spirit of Goodyear’s new college football campaign, “Blimpworthy,” which recognizes hard work, determination and grit on and off the field.
The Goodyear Blimp first provided aerial views for the 1955 Rose Bowl. Today, a new fleet of blimps can fly higher than ever made it possible to perform the pregame skydive.
But the real question is, would YOU have the commemorative “balls” to skydive, like this cadet?
Combining the Air Force Academy, ESPN College GameDay, Dale Earnhardt Jr. & the biggest college football game in history, Goodyear and its Blimp skydive proved to be an event of historic proportions and rounded out an unforgettable weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.