Texas boasts three of fox sports’ top 25 live animal mascots
DID YOU KNOW…?
Before there was a Bevo, there was a feisty tan and white Pit Bull mix named Pig. From 1914 to 1923 Pig could be seen authoritatively walking around the UT-Austin campus daily. As the varsity mascot, he went to classes with students, attended athletic events and participated in morning “fall outs” with military cadets during World War I. It is rumored Pig would even growl whenever anyone mentioned the Aggies.
Students at UT were very attached to Pig, despite the introduction of the first Bevo in 1916. Introducing a live longhorn as a mascot is attributed to alumnus Stephen Pinckney, who gathered $124 from other alumni to purchase a steer in the Panhandle; originally named “Bo” and shipped to Austin.
Bevo the First didn’t stay too long. He was taken out of town that year and didn’t return to campus until 1920.
BEVO II through XV
Bevo has officially been the live mascot of the athletic programs since 1932. He is always a Texas Longhorn steer with burnt orange and white coloring. The current Bevo (XV) was introduced in 2016. He has a horn span of 58″, he weighs 1,800lbs and is owned by Betty and John Baker’s Sunrise Ranch in Liberty Hill; which was also the home of Bevo XIII and Bevo XIV (photo above).
Sports Illustrated says Bevo is one of the most recognized college mascots, and has even been called “the toughest-looking animal mascot in sports.” Fox Sports ranked him #1 in the top 25 live animal sports mascots.
LADY AND JOY
When your team name is the Bears, having a live mascot can be tricky. In true Texas fashion, Baylor University has had a bear habitat since 1917 and they have not one, but two live bears; ranked #10 in the Fox mascot poll. The first bear mascot was acquired after a military group left it in the care of the university during World War I. Mascots are all named Judge (after Baylor namesake Judge R.E.B. Baylor) and each is also given an individual name in honor of a figure in the university’s history.
The current bears (top right), Judge Joy Reynolds (Joy) and Judge Sue Sloan (Lady), are biological sisters. Joy arrived on campus as a cub in 2001; Lady arrived as a cub one year later and was named after the wife of the 12th President of Baylor. Both current ladies attended games on leashes until they got too big. They now weigh 270 to 280 pounds and have their own habitat on the university’s campus.
REVILLE
Texas A&M has none but the First Lady of Aggieland on the sidelines. She is #11 on the Fox poll but is highest-ranking member of the Corps of Cadets who address her as ‘Miss Rev, ma’am’. The first Reveille made her appearance in 1931. She is buried, along with all other Reveilles, at the north entrance facing the scoreboard so she can always watch the Aggies win.
The first Reveille was a mutt and there are many legends about how she was discovered and came to live on campus. According to Reveille: First Lady of Texas A&M, Reveille made her official debut during a football game in 1932, and “it was the moment that officially earned her the designation as the school’s mascot.” She always travels first class, or in private planes (below with cattleman Jim Schwertner), and among the many Reveille traditions is the rule that if she finds her way into a student’s bed, the cadet has to sleep elsewhere, even the floor.