Quacktavious, beloved pet duck that once attended Oregon football game, dies

Posted by author February 20, 2025 Football

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Quacktavious, the famous pet duck of a University of Oregon student that once attended a game at Autzen Stadium and became beloved on campus and around Eugene over the past two years, died on Wednesday.

Jeremy Jackson, the owner of Quacktavious and a junior at UO, said he found the nearly three-year-old fowl deceased when he got home from physical training with the Army National Guard shortly before 8 a.m. this morning.

“I think it was just natural,” Jackson said. “The days leading up he was good like he always is. I fed him again last night and he was eating, drinking the water. I got up this morning for PT and he was still good. When I came back from PT I went in and checked on him and he was gone.

“It was rough. I had a class at 8 that I couldn’t go to it. I was all the way thrown off. My friends, they’ve been texting me, checking in on me. It’s been a day. I had class at 12, I tried to go to that and maybe distract myself, that didn’t work.”

Quacktavious gained national fame after Jackson brought him into the student section for the Oregon football game against Colorado on Sept. 23, 2023. In the nearly 18 months since Quacktavious, who Jackson bought as a duckling in spring 2022 from Tractor Supply Co. in Starkville, Mississippi, and his owner have been nearly inseparable on campus and around Eugene.

Though Quacktavious never made an appearance at Autzen Stadium again Jackson brought him to several other Ducks sporting events, including lacrosse, soccer, tennis and beach volleyball matches, and countless social gatherings.

If they weren’t together, Jackson said he was commonly asked where Quacktavious was.

Jackson, who is from Saltillo, Mississippi, is glad to have been able to share so many memories with people after transferring from Mississippi State to UO, his dream school.

“It’s going to take some time getting used to,” Jackson said. “It was a big part of my life. I don’t want to say that I’m going to not be me. A lot of people are still going to know me for having QT. This was the school that I’ve always wanted to go to since I was a kid. Every time I turned around, something was going right. Things I never thought of or things I can only imagine would happen, happened.

“Now to have this one thing that was a big part of me gone, I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t want to be just that guy who was known for having a duck. I don’t want to be the guy who goes away because he doesn’t have his duck anymore. I want to leave a lasting impact on people. When my time here is done I hope that’s the one thing that can be said about me, that I shared all these memories with everyone and I was able to help them experience that joy I had with Quacktavious.”