This is the first part of a series of articles on NFL team mascots.
When I was in my early teens, I used to carry an igneous rock I had found in the school courtyard in my pocket as a good luck charm. The inevitable happened, I grew older and the rock was replaced by a leather wrist band that pretty much became my trademark.
I don’t know whether it was because of watching too many cartoons or reading comics after bedtime or cultural and psychological conditioning as child that led me to believe that those trivial and arguably silly things were actually lucky for me.
My superstitious frenzy might have been triggered by my childhood insecurities and/or phobias, but that of course is for my psychologist to analyze. Fortunately, I am not the only one who thinks that an ornament made of animal skin will help in evading any
misfortunes headed his way. History books have countless mentions of objects, gemstones, metals, animals, days of the week and even numbers considered lucky by different cultures.
A mascot in the same manner is traditionally a person, object, animal or fictional character believed to bring good luck. Mascots in the modern world are quite essentially poster boys/girls of publically recognized entities like sports teams, schools, marching
bands etc.
In the sports world, mascots are not only used as community goodwill ambassadors but also for merchandizing. Yes, yes its money that makes the world go round, forget whatever your high school ethics teacher told you.
Mascots are a permanent part of many sports teams and franchises nowadays and, frequently appear at team matches and other social events. In addition to giving a team a common face, mascots also personify the philosophy, driving force or a desired trait
of a team. Many mascots are crowd favorites and are applauded and cheered for by it.
There are 32 teams in the National Football League (NFL) and only five of them do not have official mascots. Let’s start off with a raven-like costumed character called Poe. Poe is the mascot of the Baltimore Ravens and is named after the famous Baltimore
writer and poet Edger Allan Poe. The Baltimore Ravens also get their name form a poem written by Edger Allan Poe called “The Raven”.
Poe originally had two brothers Edger and Allan. The three brothers having notably distinct physiques and personalities were representatives of different types of players in a football team. Edger the eldest of the trio was tall and broad shouldered and
represented the backfield. The backfield consists of positions like the linebacker, defense back, quarter back, fullback etc. Allan the shortest and the most agile one was a representative of the running backs and receivers. Poe being short and strong represented
the linemen. Edger and Allan were retired after the 2008 season and Poe became the sole mascot of the Ravens. In 2009 Poe was teamed up with two live ravens named “Rise” and “Conquer”.
Billy the Buffalo is an 8 foot tall blue American bison and is the official mascot of the Buffalo Bills, a team that hails from Buffalo, New York. Billy made his debut in 2000 and was inducted as an official mascot by the Buffalo Bills in 2003.
The Cincinnati Bengals famous for their chant “Who Dey” have a Bengal Tiger-like figure also named Who Dey as their mascot. Who Dey is six feet five inches tall and weighs 227 pounds, he is orange and has black stripes all over his body.
If you’ve liked what you have read so far, you are going to love what’s coming. For more information and interesting facts about NFL mascots please read the second part of this article.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own and in no way represent Bettor.com’s official editorial policy.