ATHENS, Tenn. (AP) -- It looked like a gator, but the creature spotted in a murky pond may have more to do with pigskin than alligator hide.

The McMinn County Sheriff's Department searched in the Riceville area, southwest of Athens, on Friday after someone said they had spotted an alligator.

Later, a photo surfaced, showing what looks like an alligator several miles from the initial sighting.

Not to be missed here is that Tennessee opens its football season Sept. 1 and hosts rival Florida -- the Gators -- Sept. 20.

An employee of a private landfill told The Daily Post-Athenian the "creature" was a fake and said it had been thrown away.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has destroyed three real alligators since last year after people brought them in from Gulf Coast states and turned them loose when they got large.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)