In an event that brought back memories of Carragher going head-to-head with Gary Neville at Brentford, the former Liverpool man was once more brought out as a means of entertainment. Instead of pitting himself against Neville, though, this time he was in a costume and acting as a mascot.
Taking the place of Nottingham Forest's Robin Hood., Carragher was asked to beat Leicester City's Filbert Fox across the pitch. In typically chilled Sky Friday night coverage style, what followed was carnage.
Starting on the touchline, Carragher gave off the Usain Bolt pose before getting into a ready sprinter's position. Once given the go-ahead, Carragher streaked into an early lead, powering forward. Although he appeared to be in a strong position to win this comedic race, his next actions then caused controversy in the Sky department.
Carragher quickly shook off his mascot boot, running the rest of the pitch in just his socks. Unsurprisingly, an ex-Premier League footballer, who keeps himself fit, had far too much for the Leicester mascot.
Carragher won by a long way, rounding off the race with a slide to the finish line. In front of approximately no fans - the ground was still being prepared for player warmups at the King Power Stadium - Carragher lifted his arms in celebration. Leicester's mascot sunk to its knees, cover its eyes with its hands in apparent despair.
It was at that point that Carragher embraced the Fox, taking his mascot head to reveal it was him after all. Scooby-Doo style unveiling, Carragher was tackled to the ground before being congratulated.
Sky were hot to bring up 'boot-gate', though. "Some would say that @Carra23 cheated... [eyes emoji]" they posted on X (formerly Twitter), raising the point of Carragher running with less baggage for most of the race. Job done, ultimately, for Carragher, but why not try and embarrass Neville? "Do you know, Sky asked Leicester whether I could go in the fox outfit," the former Manchester United defender jokingly queried, "and they said no!"
"Filbert takes it really seriously!" exclaimed Carragher. "Honestly, these mascots deserve the money. I mean, I was in there for 15 minutes putting it [the gear] on and 15 minutes taking it off. It's a big rivalry, it's a big derby game this isn't it. We know this is a big rivalry between the mascots as well."
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