Who is Zeke the Wonder Dog? Frisbee-catching Lab performs at Thursday Night Football halftime

Over the past 45 years, Michigan State faithful have had one especially good boy on their side. Since 1977, Zeke the Wonder Dog (and his three successors) have been known for their high-flying frisbee-catching halftime performances at Spartan Stadium. Zeke’s halftime shows have become a decades-long tradition, one that signifies fall in East Lansing. And lucky for the rest of the country, he’s taking his talents to the Big Apple—er, East Rutherford, New Jersey. 

Zeke the Wonder Dog IV announced on his Twitter that he will perform at halftime of the Jets vs. Patriots Thursday night matchup. For one night only, Zeke is trading in his Spartan bandana for a Jets one—and his good boy talents will be on display. 

Zeke the Wonder Dog’s Michigan State history 

The original Ezekiel (Zeke for short), a yellow Labrador, competed with his owner, Gary Eisenberg, a then MSU sophomore, at various frisbee competitions, according to the Lansing State Journal. The two were noticed by the university and asked to perform at a home football game, and the rest is history. Since then, three more canine performers named Zeke have taken the field—with one 18-year absence. 

The current Zeke is a red English Labrador, who is trained by Jim Foley and his wife, Terri Foley, both of whom have trained three of the four Zeke the Wonder Dogs for more than 20 years, according to Zeke’s site. You can watch the Thursday Night Football game—and hopefully, Zeke—on Amazon's Prime Video.

More on the Thursday Night Football matchup

The New England Patriots will head to East Rutherford to take on the New York Jets in this Week 3 matchup between division foes. Both teams are 1-1 heading into the evening, and the Jets, who narrowly escaped Will Levis’s antics with a victory on Sunday, are forcing a 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers to play three games in 11 days. The Jets have high hopes on the season, and the Pats, well, they’d like to spoil those hopes and dreams. 

One thing is certain: Should we not get the Aaron Rodgers air show in the first half, Zeke is happy to fire up the New York fans with his own high-flying performance.