Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons. Even though the elephant served as a symbol for the team, it took decades for the Big Al mascot to come to fruition. The mascot made its debut in the 1980 Sugar Bowl, but the first student to don the elephant costume was Melford Espey Jr.22 Sept 2021. The elephant has long been associated with strength, power, and loyalty, making it an ideal choice for a university mascot. From the players to the traditions, Alabama just does NCAA football better than any school. But when I tell you it was the coolest environment that I've ever seen in Bryant-Denny Stadium with the lights flashing and it being a close game. Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The elephant, named John Heisman, after the famous coach, was a big hit with students and fans. Webster: "Oh, Big Al. They play the Green Day song ["Basket Case"]. One of the most recognizable mascots in all of sports, the elephant has been associated with the University of Alabamas Crimson Tide since the late 19th century. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. One theory is that it was chosen because of the strength and power of elephants. The African elephant is larger than its Asian counterpart and has larger ears. The best experience I ever had as Big Al was when I was at a children's hospital. Aubie (a tiger) and an eagle. Q: Are people allowed to know that you're Big Al? Although Big Al . The story of how Alabama became associated with the "elephant" goes back to the 1930 season. Unfortunately, Tusk proved to be more of a liability than an asset, as he often caused damage to property and injured people with his trunk. Since then, the Crimson Tide has had several live elephants as mascots, the most recent of which is named Big Al. In the late 1940s, student humor magazine The Rammer Jammer began referring to the Crimson Tide as Thrift Shop Elephants, a reference to the thriftiness of Alabamians. There are several reasons why this is so. ", VIDEO: Ole Miss streaker gets leveled by security, PHOTOS: 2012 college football uniform tracker & grader, PHOTO: Passed out Georgia football fan becomes infamous, Alabama fans' family portrait includes baby as football, PHOTOS: Top 10 ugliest college football helmets ever, WAGS of college football players ft. USC's Matt Barkley, PHOTOS: Insane H.S. Finally, elephants are social animals that live in close-knit herds. It appears that the SSL configuration used is not compatible with Cloudflare. It takes all five of us. Ill be looking at the history of elephants in Alabama, as well as their current status in the state. We have a round that is just the walk. Since then, the Crimson Tides elephant mascot has been represented in a variety of ways, from costumed mascots to cartoon characters. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. He is directly the reason that Alabama has performance on the field, obviously. He's still one of the most unique mascots in college football. So that's kind of looking for the creativity part. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. [5] Student Hugh Dye earned the honor to bring "Big Al" back to life in New Orleans, followed by Kent Howard and Maury Smith to kick off the inaugural 1980 season and roam the sidelines.[6]. It's not just a random date that the food company picked out of thin air. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul Bear Bryant. how big is a woolly mammoth compared to an elephant. We also have 'Elephant Stomp' which is at Gorgas Library. And with new content being added every day, there's always something new to discover. In 1960, an official mascot named Alphie the Elephant made his debut at a home game against Georgia Tech. Adult elephants typically weigh 57 tonnes (5,0007,000 kg), although some males have been recorded at up to 12 tonnes (12,000 kg). We have different people we have to go through to post things on social media. The origin of the mascot dates back to 1930. [Related: PHOTOS: 2012 college football uniform tracker & grader]. The president came to the football game. We do get a little bit of scholarship money just because we do so much for the university. Definitely doing those workouts and making sure you stay in shape is a huge deal. The elephant is an excellent choice for a mascot for the Alabama Crimson Tide. LostLettermen.com is a college football and men's basketball site that regularly contributes to Dr. Saturday. Q: What's the story behind the white jersey tradition? In 1917, the band became a military band and was led . Auburn has two mascots. What is Alabama's football mascot? The mascot made its debut in the 1980 Sugar Bowl, but the first student to don the elephant costume was Melford Espey Jr.22 Sept 2021. Why is an elephant alabama's mascot? Can he throw a football? So Big Al wearing his white jersey is a part of that tradition. More than 40 years since Big Al earned the stamp of approval, he's still spreading spirit at Bryant-Denny Stadium and other Alabama athletics events. Additional troubleshooting information here. How much does a 8 week old cocker spaniel weight? I was crying in suit but I had to act like as if Big Al were happy. Which isn't to say that elephants didn't factor in prominently to gameday tradition. How did Big Al became Alabama's mascot? Dickey: "Big Al has a very unconventional suit. You see a lot of tigers, a lot of dogs. Big Al was named by a student vote. It usually means they are about to get trampled. Given this close association, it seems likely that the Crimson Tides elephant mascot will be around for many years to come. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions. Today, Big Al can be seen at all types of University of Alabama athletic events, not just football. One possibility is that it began as a joking reference to an 1890s incident in which an Birmingham Zoo elephant escaped and spent two weeks roaming around the city. We had Good Morning America. When Bryant shot down the elephant mascot idea, that was that. Then we as the judges have to guess what he's trying to do with the props. The mascot known as "Big Al" today was the brainchild of University of Alabama student Walt Tart, member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. 2 The Big Al costume was first officially worn in 1979. While the specific origin of why an elephant was chosen as Alabamas mascot is unknown, there are several theories. Answer: Following the Alabama-Ole Miss football game in October 1930, an Atlanta sports reporter's descriptionof the impressive size and ability of the Crimson Tide, along with the crowd's reaction, changed everything: "At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow," he wrote. The University of Alabama is home to many of the bests. . Q: So you have to have a certain height and weight to be Big Al? None of us even have close to a full scholarship. We have five different assignments for every game day split between all five of us. Dickey: "There definitely is. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while. So we have to pass a conditioning test to prove we have the athletic stamina to be Big Al. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul Bear Bryant. and out stamped this Alabama varsity. A sportswriter named Everett Strupper wrote about how head coach Wallace Wade's Alabama team's big and aggressive linemen resembled elephants after pounding Mississippi, 64-0. Trey Dickey is a senior from Birmingham, Alabama, studying creative media and communications studies. Webster: "You can. The Crimson Tide's mascot is an elephant because the UA spirit committee began hiring elephants from travelling circuses or Tuscaloosa to attend every homecoming. Another theory is that the schools first football coach, Wallace Wade, had once seen a circus perform in Tuscaloosa and been impressed by the elephants. The team went on to be named National Champions, according to rolltide.com. We're in the program for the football team. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). The story of how Alabama became associated with the "elephant" goes back to the 1930 season when Coach Wallace Wade had assembled a great football team. The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. "Once that's over, he runs the team out. "[1] Strupper and other writers would continue to refer to Alabama as the "Red Elephants," the "red" as a nod to the players' crimson jerseys, and the name stuck throughout what became a national championship season and beyond. When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes. In 1907, a live elephant was brought to campus as a mascot for the universitys football team. So at halftime we usually prepare a little short skit where like a costume that Big Al will wear. This fits in well with the tradition and history of the Alabama Crimson Tide, which is one of the most prestigious college football teams in the country. Usually, if you're a first-year on the team you get a little bit less than everyone else on the team. Henry "Zipp" Newman, who became the sports editor of the Birmingham News at the age of 25, helped popularize the nickname. He'll also drop in on your nuptials, if youre willing to pony up his $400 wedding appearance fee. We don't have people that are very large, so making sure we have people who can be very animated with their full body movements is super important. Roberts used the term to describe crimson-and-white-clad Alabama's surprising performance during a rain-soaked 6-6 tie with heavily favored Auburn in 1907. Why is alabama's mascot an elephant? This could happen for a several reasons, including no shared cipher suites. The school still refused, however, to acknowledge the elephant as an official mascot. It's not an obvious type of thing.". Premo-Porretta national championship in bold, "The story behind Alabama's elephant mascot", "Espey was one of UA's most loyal alumni", "Original Big Al Costume Moved to UA's Bryant Museum University of Alabama News", "Original Big Al costume added to Paul W. Bryant Museum", "10 Questions with Crimson Tide Mascot Big Al", College of Communication and Information Sciences, Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Al_(mascot)&oldid=1118445329, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 October 2022, at 01:50. Hugh Roberts, sports editor for the Birmingham Age-Herald, is widely credited as being the first to use "Crimson Tide" to refer to Alabama's football team. The Million Dollar Band, the University of Alabama's marching band, was founded in 1912 with 14 members under the direction of Dr. Gustav Wittig. Additional troubleshooting information here. Why is Alabama's mascot "Big Al" an elephant, you ask? On October 8, 1930, a sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal, Everett Strupper, wrote about the previous weekend's Alabama-Ole Miss football game. Finally, elephants have long memories, which is a fitting metaphor for university alumni who remember their time at UA fondly. The Million Dollar Band. I had a roommate at the time that was trying to convince me to go to it. 4 Oklahoma square off in Orange Bowl for national title bid, Jonah Williams: 3 things to know about Alabama football's offensive tackle, Mack Wilson: 5 things to know about the Alabama football linebacker, Quinnen Williams: 4 things to know about the Alabama football defensive tackle, Raekwon Davis: 4 things to know about the Alabama football defensive lineman, Paul Tyson: 5 things about Alabama football signee, Bear Bryant's great-grandson, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. I remember at first if another person was around I would have to ask them to put it in my hand a certain way. The Million Dollar Band performing at a football game. That was not the image of his players he wanted to portray.". Big Al's game debut was one to remember: The 1979 Sugar Bowl against top-ranked and undefeated Penn State, when a fourth-quarter goal line stand delivered No. The gray, anthropomorphic elephant has been the team's official mascot since 1979, when Bear Bryant finally approved the trunked animal despite a history that dates back to 1930. I think that really helped me in the tryout, being more relaxed and not caring as much about the outcome and caring more about just having a good time, because that's what Big Al would wanna do. Needless to say, Alabama opponents in the SEC aren't nearly as fond of seeing the Crimson Tide's elephant mascot. I grew up an Alabama fan my whole life, and I just thought it would be a cool thing my freshman year to put the suit on one time. Dickey: "That's actually a really funny story. Whatever its origins, the elephant quickly became a popular symbol for the Crimson Tide, appearing in newspaper cartoons and on team merchandise. There is a story that Alabama got its colors from a ball on campus when UA was still a military school, wearing gray, black and white uniforms. Welcome to my blog, where Ill be discussing the important question of why the Alabama Crimson Tides mascot is an elephant. Later that afternoon, the candidates come either prepared with a minute-and-a-half skit or they can make an impromptu one at tryouts. You can never see straight in front of you, so when we're taking pictures you always have to put the camera in that blind spot. The "Big Al" mascot officially debuted at the 1980 Sugar Bowl, when the 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks. Crimson Tide fans are okay with that. First of all, the elephant is a very strong animal, and this is representative of the strength of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. It's just a small little tradition that not a lot of people know about probably. Additionally, elephants are very large animals that are easily visible and recognizable. As a result of DJ Al's popularity, a campaign was started on campus to name the mascot after him, and that campaign succeeded at the polls. ", Webster: "I think it's on the website too but if a corporate company wants Big Al its $400 to the university. Performance & security by Cloudflare. It just runs deep. The nickname stuck. He's cute. Dickey: "We try to keep it a secret for the most part, because we don't want to be on the Quad as Big Al and there be a bunch of kids around us and some drunk college student come and be like, 'Is that trey in there?' I don't think our team performs as well if Big Al doesn't get the fans into it. He's played by five different students -- two guys and three girls. Roll tide. So that's a cool thing that we get the respect from the university. The man who Bryant tasked with spearheading Big Al's creation was none other than Espey, who by that time was working as an Alabama administrator. The nickname stuck. The more you return and the more you dedicate to the program, the more you get in scholarship money. The two assured him that it was just a person in an elephant costume and not a real elephant, to which Bryant grinned and said he knew all along. The History of the Alabama Crimson Tide's Elephant Mascot. [Related: Top 10 college football live mascots ft. Auburn's "War Eagle"]. He told Paige that several schools in the Southeastern Conference had obtained mascot costumes and proposed that the University of Alabama should get one as well. After a few rounds, he got dropped. In the early 1930s, when the University started associating an elephant with its brand, the elephant was called Alamite. A self-taught DIYer, Tammy loves nothing more than tackling a new project in her own home. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. I've always had good experiences with it. On October 8, 1930, sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal wrote a story of the Alabama-Mississippi game he had witnessed in Tuscaloosa four days earlier. After box visits, Big Al will come back in a white jersey. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. 1 Alabama's nickname of "Crimson Tide" brings to mind the school's costumed elephant mascot, Big Al, no matter how hard you try. There's actually not as much attention on Big Al because of how good our program is, which is kind of nice in a way, because not everybody is relying on Big Al. Today it explains the meaning behind Alabama's elephant mascot. 1 Alabama, No. It kind of symbols a sign of 'we made it, let's finish this.' That gets divvied up through cheerleaders and Big Al. As a result, the live elephant mascot was eventually retired. Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa, told Yahoo Sports in 2012. He's a very large person, and so usually we have people on the team that are very athletic build. But if you wanted Big Al for a private event that would be like $100. LostLettermen.com is a college football and men's basketball site that regularly contributes to Dr. Saturday. Bulls use their tusks aggressively while fighting; elephants also use them for tasks such as moving trees and stripping bark from trees for food. Q: What was your favorite game or moment as Big Al? Why is Alabama's Mascot an Elephant Named Big Al. It's kind of about the kids. Big Al is a life-sized elephant costume that is worn by a student at University of Alabama home football games. Big Al, Alabama's elephant mascot, has roamed the sidelines for more than 30 years. The story of how Alabama became associated with the "elephant" goes back to the 1930 season when Coach Wallace Wade had assembled a great football team. Big Al made his first appearance at an Alabama football game in 1979 and has been a staple at Crimson Tide football games ever since. The name was inspired by the teams raw power and strength on the field. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Why does Alabama use an elephant as a mascot? In 1979, he was meeting with the homecoming chairman, Ann Paige, as they were trying to come up with something different for the school's homecoming parade. link to Can you cook mince 1 day out of date? The elephant in the room going into the Arkansas Razorbacks' 1 p.m. Saturday showdown with No. Q: I guess Big Al can't be too heavy then Webster: "Yeah, there was one year that this guy tried out who was 6-foot-7. William Webster spent four years as Big Al from 2018 to 2021. The origin of Alabama's elephant mascot and its association with Crimson Tide football is a popular conversation topic among fans and outsidersalike. Most of our traditions happen in the fourth quarter. The gray, anthropomorphic elephant has been the team's official mascot since 1979, when Bear Bryant finally approved the trunked animal despite a history that dates back to 1930. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. The biggest thing to look for in someone who wants to be a Big Al is are they creative enough to think on the spot and are they animated enough? You have to fast-forward 23 years to come upon the first mention of elephants to describe Alabama football. The first elephant to represent the Crimson Tide was actually a live animal, brought to games to lead the team onto the field. The expiration date on food is there for a reason. Thankfully part of Big Al's character is being clumsy. So how did one of college football's blue bloods on the path to win its third national title in four years come to be represented by an animal most often associated with the circus, Dumbo and the Republican Party? The mascot known as "Big Al" today was the brainchild of University of Alabama student Walt Tart, member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. after a little pleading with Coach Bear Bryant tojump on board with anon-field mascot, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. They were telling me about how much I made their day. That was definitely the most challenging event, but it was definitely the most rewarding because I think I got the most out of that one. You get better at it after a few months being in suit. Since then, Alphie has been a fixture at Alabama sporting events, accompanying the football team onto the field before every home game. The history of the Alabama Crimson Tide's elephant mascot is a long and storied one. 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