ESPN Releases Jadeveon Clowney 'The Freak' Promo

It’s hard to overhype an athlete with the talent of Jadeveon Clowney, but that doesn’t mean ESPN won’t give it a roll.

With less than a week to go before the college football season kicks off, the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” has released a promo for its upcoming special on the Gamecocks superstar.

Titled “The Freak,” ESPN’s special segment on Clowney will air this Sunday. In the meantime, college football fans will be treated to this commercial in which the South Carolina star defensive end is portrayed as the boogeyman who has his opponents shaking in their beds at night.

Josh Poloha of College Spun spotted the bizarre video, and it’s probably safe to assume some college football fans won’t be too jazzed by the promotion.

The promo features all sorts of strangeness and begins with fans of various SEC schools trying to sleep as an ominous female voice haunts their slumber:

“He’s coming. He’s going to get you. Wake up—it’s game time!”

South Carolina cheerleaders invade bedrooms. They chant “Clowney! Clowney!” as they ruffle their pom-poms and hit the fans with pillows. A Clemson fan wakes up screaming. He’s wearing a helmet in bed, presumably because he’s that scared of being hit by Clowney.

Mixed into the surreal bedroom scenes are highlights of Clowney’s big hits, along with smash cuts of the defensive end growling and menacing the camera.

We get it, guys. Clowney is a scary man, and he’s going to single-handedly dominate everyone in the world. Pumping up athletes is a time-honored tradition in television, but TV spots like this are usually reserved for companies like Nike or Adidas, as opposed to news outlets like ESPN.

The over-the-top video doesn’t come as a surprise, however.

ESPN brought us Tebowmania, and it would appear it's devoted itself to running a Clowney Carnival throughout the 2013-14 college football season.

ESPN's "The Freak" special will air Aug. 25 at 10 a.m. ET.

Shake off these nightmares and join me on Twitter.

Follow @Dr__Carson