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Miami's Duke Johnson surprises couple by attending wedding

If you're a University of Miami fan, you can pay to have UM mascot Sebastian the Ibis show up at an event. A couple decided to do just that at a south Florida wedding over the weekend.

But the guy Sebastian brought with him ... let's just say that it isn't often that a college football star crashes a wedding.

That's what happened to Pedro and Susana Lopez on Saturday.

There are more wedding photos available on UM's official football twitter account, @MiamiHurricanes, and a wedding video is here.

You can ding Johnson for his attire -- come on, shorts and sneakers at a wedding, even if it is a wedding in laid-back south Florida? -- but you can't ding him for taking the time to attend a wedding of strangers, even if he is the groom's favorite player. (It looks as if the groomsmen also wore sneakers, so ... .)

Miami sports information director Chris Yandle told the Palm Beach Post that while the groom had an idea that the bride had made arrangements for Sebastian to show up -- the Ibis reportedly gets $250-300 for a few hours -- he had no idea Johnson would be there.

Johnson will be Miami's most important offensive player this season, and should be the best running back in the ACC. He ran for 920 yards last season before suffering a broken ankle in Game 8, a loss to Florida State. With Miami's quarterback situation in flux -- projected starter Ryan Williams suffered a torn ACL in spring practice -- Johnson is going to carry a heavy load (literally and figuratively) for the Hurricanes' offense.

Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.