Animal Use in College Football

"Animals weren’t put on the earth for us – we’re here for them."

–Anjelica Huston

College football is one of the things I love most about this time of year. I'll admit it: I binge the bowl games. However, like with all things, I can't just enjoy it mindlessly; I have to look at it from a vegan perspective. Usually when I pick a team to root for, I choose it based on the mascot. I'm always going to pick the panthers over the cowboys, and I generally avoid picking teams like Georgia or LSU, for reasons I'll explain shortly. While I enjoy the camaraderie and passion in the sporting community, I have serious ethical issues when live animals are brought into the mix.

Strange Mascot Origins

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I chose six mascots that are unusual and researched where they came from. When I watch football, I always wonder about these strange mascots, like the Alabama Crimson Tide, and why the schools didn't go for something more generic like lions or tigers. Where do these names come from? What do they mean?

1. University of South Carolina — Gamecocks

Though the Gamecocks were named after an American Revolution-era man, Thomas Sumter, nicknamed the Carolina Gamecock, the word itself is derived from cockfighting. This "sport" of forcing roosters to battle to the death is illegal and socially unacceptable. Though the name may strike fear in the school's adversaries, it is hardly an appropriate mascot for modern-day animal lovers.

2. Virginia Tech — Hokies

"Hokie" is not a real word and is not an actual term for a turkey, but the word was concocted for the mascot based on a traditional school cheer, "Old Hokie." The turkey mascot itself is derived from the nickname of the school's sports teams, the Fighting Gobblers; the true origins of this name is unknown. But turkeys are known to gobble, so the bird became the school's official mascot.

3. Texas A&M — Aggies

The term "aggies" refers to the school being an agriculture-based institution. However, the true mascot is a dog named Reveille. All the iterations of Reveilles, of which the current dog is called Reveille IX, are buried on school grounds near the football stadium as some sign of their passion for the sport.

4. University of Alabama — Crimson Tide

Big Al is the elephant representing the Crimson Tide, derived from the monstrous size of Alabama's players back in the 1930s. While the school's current mascot is a costume, Alabama owned and rented live elephants in the '40s and '50s to appear at games. As far as the "Crimson Tide" goes, the 1907 Iron Bowl was played on a field of red mud, staining the white Alabama jerseys a deep red, earning them the nickname from a local newspaper.

5. Texas Christian University — Horned Frogs

The horned frogs was supposedly chosen to replace the Fightin' Preacher Boys, which had not been very threatening to their opponents. The animal, which is in fact a lizard, is meant to represent the region, as they are native to that area. The mascot's current name is SuperFrog, first appearing in 1979.

6. University of Minnesota — Golden Gophers

The gopher was chosen because Minnesota received the nickname of being the Gopher State in 1857. Almost 80 years later, the gopher was officially recognized as the school's mascot. Today, the mascot is named Goldy Gopher, who first appeared in 1952.

Live Animal Mascots

The schools listed below use live animals at football games, even though their mascot may not be an animal. You will notice many patterns between the schools, none more prominent than the level of disrespect to the individual animals, so great that they aren't even given unique names. These animals are all bred for the sole purpose of being school mascots. Additionally, please note that these are just a few of the many schools that use live animals; there are many more I wanted to include but couldn't.

1. University of Tennessee — Volunteers

You'd think with a name like the Volunteers, there wouldn't be anything wrong with them, but alas, there is. The animal mascot is Smokey the Coonhound, a dog bred for the Vols since 1953. The school is currently on their tenth iteration of the dog, named Smokey X. Many animal mascots are named with Roman numerals in order to preserve the original animal's iconic name, much like the many Shamus at SeaWorld.

2. University of Georgia — Bulldogs

Since 1956, Georgia has bred ten English Bulldogs named Uga. If you pay close attention to Georgia games, you'll see the doghouse set up just off the football field. This poor dog sits chained inside throughout the entire game, forced to listen in fear as tens of thousands of fans scream around him and music blares through the stadium and the marching bands clamor away in the stands. Every time I see him, my heart breaks a little for that poor soul.

3. Louisiana State University — Tigers

Mike the Tiger is the living, breathing tiger used as the LSU mascot. Why they think they need an actual tiger to better enjoy their sports games, I'll never know. Mike VII has been the mascot since 2017, with Mike I first appearing on the scene in 1936 and serving 20 years for the school. It should be made clear that all these mascots are only replaced upon death; Mike II lasted less than two years.

4. Florida State University — Seminoles

Osceola was a Seminole leader and the team's mascot was named after him. Before home games, he rides onto the field atop his horse, Renegade. While Native American mascots are generally controversial, calling this historic mascot into question could be seen as an insult to Native American culture and collegiate tradition. However, to all the unnamed horses used for this silly custom, this is unjustifiable.

5. University of Texas — Longhorns

Bevo the Longhorn has been around for more than 100 years, with his first appearance in 1916. Bevo XV was inaugurated in 2016 for the centennial celebration of the first Bevo. There is little information about the fate of most Bevos, with only some of the later versions retired or dying on duty of various illnesses.

6. Oklahoma University — Sooners

If you've watch an OU game, you've probably seen the "Sooner Schooner," a pony-drawn wagon that is pulled onto the field after Oklahoma scores. The ponies are named Boomer and Sooner, all of which coincidentally seem to retire at the same time, which makes me gravely concerned for the pony that outlasted his or her partner. (Of course, it's possible that the ponies are secretly rotated without the public knowing.) Today's ponies are Boomer and Sooner V. During a game just this year, the wagon tipped over as the driver was careening all over the field. Though the ponies appeared fine, there could have been disastrous on-field consequences of this idiotic tradition.

7. Baylor University — Bears

Baylor has a pair of live black bears named Joy and Lady on campus, though they also have a bear costume-wearing human named Bruiser, so using live bears seems excessive. If you go onto Baylor's website, you'll see a page dedicated to the bears, including "fun facts" about them. In a time where zoos and circuses are excluding large wild animals from their cages, it seems bizarre that a university would think they are capable of giving these bears appropriate care.

8. University of North Alabama — Lions

Like Baylor, the pair of UNA lions also live on campus. Unlike the other mascots on this list, UNA only had one lion to begin with, Leo I and then Leo II, but in 2002, they added Una to the roster who currently resides with Leo III. Again, these mascot names are incredibly original and inventive; they're not even trying to hide how many animals they go through.

9. University of Southern California — Trojans

USC tries to hide behind the façade of a human mascot, but they actually use live horses instead of a gladiator. Traveler IX is the current horse for the school, who rides into the stadium before games carrying a leather-clad, Ben Hur-inspired Trojan upon his back.

10. Auburn University — Tigers

Auburn's a weird school. Their mascot is a tiger, but the animals they use are eagles, in honor of their "War Eagle" battle cry and fight song. Each bird is named War Eagle, and War Eagle VIII debuted in 2018. The War Eagle has the oldest history of all the mascots on this list, with the first supposed appearance in 1892. However, the mascot wasn't officially inducted until 1930.

11. University of Memphis — Tigers

LSU and Memphis are the only American schools presently keeping live tigers as mascots, and, to avoid repetition, I wasn't going to include Memphis until I watched their conference championship game a few weeks ago. Their poor tiger is Tom III, and, since Mike VII doesn't attend games, Tom is the only live tiger contained on-field at college football games today. You can watch the bit of coverage he got during the game in the two videos I recorded at the bottom of this post. Please contact Memphis and all these other schools to show them that the public doesn't support this cruelty.

Vegan-Friendly Mascots

Some schools don't need scary tigers or bears to intimidate their opponents. The following list includes mascots that are animal-free and, to the best of my knowledge, are schools that do not use live animals at their sports events. I excluded teams like the University of Tennessee, even though they're the Volunteers, for the reasons mentioned above. The only other exclusion I made was for mascots of animal users like the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who happen to use horses at their games, so they wouldn't have been considered regardless.

1. The Ohio State University — Buckeyes

2. Syracuse University — Orange

3. Scottsdale Community College — Fighting Artichokes

4. Vanderbilt University — Commodores

5. Stanford University — Stanford Tree

6. University of Louisiana — Ragin' Cajuns

7. University of North Carolina School of the Arts — The Fighting Pickle

8. Purdue University — Boilermakers

9. University of Central Florida — Knights

10. East Carolina University — Pirates

11. Indiana University — Hoosiers

12. University of Notre Dame — Fighting Irish

13. University of Nebraska — Cornhuskers

14. Arizona State University — Sun Devils

15. Duke University — Blue Devils

be conscious, be kind, be vegan