Duck Dynasty: Independence Bowl To Be Sponsored by Duck Commander

Duck Commander Independence Bowl: That’s the new name of the annual bowl game played in Shreveport, Louisiana, to be sponsored by the duck call company fonder by Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty.

Duck Dynasty patriarch and founder of Duck Commander Phil Robertson is no stranger to college football. After all, Terry Bradshaw – yes, that Terry Bradshaw – was Phil’s backup at Louisiana Tech in 1966 and ’67, until Robertson decided to hang up the pads and pursue duck hunting instead.

Now Robertson’s Duck Commander brand has announced that it will be heading to Bradshaw’s Northwest Louisiana home town of Shreveport to sponsor the annual Independence Bowl, according to a report by KSLA News out of Shreveport. The Bowl game, which was called the Advocare V100 Bowl in 2013, will again be known as the Independence Bowl. More specifically, it will be called the Duck Commander Independence Bowl, at least for the next six years, according to a Sporting News report.

Locals seem to be excited about the news, but some have expressed doubts that it will bring in any more fans than the football-crazed city of Shreveport already draws. Charlie Howell, a football fan and lifelong resident of the Shreveport area who has met the cast of Duck Dynasty, had this to say about the Duck Commander sponsorship:

“It was cool finding out that they were sponsoring the Indy bowl…definitely gives a cool factor to it. Will it make the Indy Bowl any bigger? I doubt it. Duck Commander is also the title sponsor for the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway this spring. Them sponsoring the race isn’t gonna help sell tickets; they’re gonna sell them regardless of the title sponsor.”

Some football fans in the area take a different view. Ricky Bonnett, who grew up in Shreveport and now serves as pastor for Ruston First Assembly of God, situated on I-20 – the highway that runs between Shreveport and the Duck Commander’s home town of Monroe, Louisiana – begs the question, “What could be better than having a hugely successful Louisiana business sponsoring a college bowl game in Louisiana?”

Duck Dynasty fans will remember that the Duck Commander was notably absent from a Super Bowl commercial featuring the Duck Dynasty crew. Some have speculated that his absence may have been due to controversial remarks the Robertson patriarch made in an interview with GQ.

Phil Robertson played a fairly minor role in last week’s episode of Duck Dynasty, which featured a paintball war and an argument over an old G.I. Joe action figure between Willie and Jase Robertson. Who knows? Maybe he was too busy negotiating sponsorship of the Indy Bowl.

It’s important to note that this is not the Duck Dynasty Independence Bowl. Duck Dynasty – the show on A&E Network 0- is not the game’s sponsor. Rather, the game will be sponsored by the company Phil built with his now-famous duck calls, Duck Commander. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the cast of Duck Dynasty won’t be involved.

What do you think? Are you excited yet about the 2014 Duck Commander Independence Bowl? What part do you think the crew from Duck Dynasty will play in promoting the Independence Bowl?