For more than 60 years, the Cleek family – of Missouri-based Cleek’s Home Furnishings/Rentals & Sales – has publicly predicted the scores of the University of Missouri Tigers football games, and this year’s season is no exception.
Clifton Elmo Cleek, also known as “Missouri Mo,” began the prediction tradition in 1962, optimistically forecasting a victory for the Tigers every week. When Mo was killed in a small plane crash in 1973 – coming home from a Mizzou vs. Iowa State football game – his son “Tiger” John Cleek picked up the family tradition. He even wrote about his predictions in the Columbia Daily Tribune.
In 2021, as the Cleek family opened up about “Tiger” John’s ALS diagnosis, the prediction tradition took on even greater meaning.
The Cleek Family Mizzou football predictions have been carried on by “Tiger” John Cleek (L & C, seated) and his son, John Cleek, Jr. (C, standing, & R).
“I decided to join the fun, and we started predicting the scores together as ‘Tiger’ John and ‘Tiger’ Jr.,” said company President John Cleek, Jr.
One particularly poignant moment happened on November 4, 2021, when “Tiger” John was honored on Mizzou’s home turf for his decades of support for the school and its team. He had missed only three home football games since 1958 and traveled to countless away games.
“That was the Florida game we won in overtime,” Cleek, Jr. said. “It ended up being the last game my dad ever saw at Faurot Field.”
“Tiger” John passed the following spring.
“I proudly carry on the torch,” said Cleek, Jr. “In all these years, between my grandfather, my dad, and me, we’ve never gotten the score exactly right. But one of these days, we will – and I know they’ll both be smiling down from heaven.”
“In celebration of our company’s 68th anniversary this month, I was just thinking about the history of the predictions,” Cleek, Jr. said. “Missing my dad and thinking about my grandparents. Go Tigers!”
