A Brief History of Team Mascots Maiming Sports Fans

The universe of sports mascots is filled with men and women in large, boiling-hot costumes, bewildered live animals and assorted rabble-rousers who entertain and rally fans. Between the logistics of moving around in bulky suits with a limited field of vision, and the fact mascots command less respect than a screaming toddler, it’s not surprising that mascot and fan have clashed in a myriad of ways.

While some collisions, attacks and assorted incidents between mascots and fans are choreographed entertainment at sporting events, some are the result of bad luck, malfeasance…or a little of both. In this collection of moments when team mascots "maimed" sports fans, no one was actually hurt, but no one needs to get hurt for the rest of us to have a good time watching what happened.

This is a brief history of team mascots maiming sports fans.

Clutch Destroys Fan with Cake

In a game against the San Antonio Spurs last April, Houston Rockets mascot Clutch approached a courtside Spurs "fan" during a timeout and obliterated his face with a cake—sending the man tumbling to the floor. The odds are the whole episode was staged, because finding a real fan and committing this kind of cake-on-face crime is Lawsuit City.

Staged or not, Clutch was all in on the vicious delivery, a reprise of a similar incident in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers two years earlier.

Rampage Takes Care of Business

During a home game against the Seattle Seahawks in October 2014, St. Louis Rams mascot Rampage—pink horns and all—meted out a little vigilante justice on a rogue Seahawks "fan" who had run out onto the field.

Despite the fact the whole episode was staged by the team, the acrobatic takedown of the dude (wearing an awful, ill-fitting neon green shirt) was great; the goal was to entertain the crowd, and the Rams succeeded.

Mr. C Decks Fan

Following a losing effort against the Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team in 2011, Vanderbilt Commodores mascot Mr. Commodore (or “Mr. C”) was mingling with a crowd of Vanderbilt students, when suddenly he turned his menacing, cartoonish glare toward an adjacent dude and bopped his face with one of his mascot hands.

The incident sent blood streaming from the student’s nose; in the aftermath, most chalked it up to an errant appendage, but it was also reported that Mr. C may have been retaliating to shenanigans involving his mascot junk.

Saluki Sends Tiny Fan Flying

As if a double-digit loss to Wichita State wasn’t enough, the ambling mascot of the Southern Illinois Salukis accidentally treated one adorable young fan like a human pinball while meandering on the court after the game.

The whole incident was the result of an unfortunate confluence of circumstances—a child racing toward giant Saluki and a person trying to navigate an arena in a giant Saluki costume. And it all came to a head when the little fan was catapulted backward by a wall of fake Saluki fur.

Actual Seahawk Dives into Seahawks Fan

In 2014, the Seattle Seahawks live mascot Taima—an augur hawk that leads the team’s raucous run out of the tunnel at home games—decided to ditch her handler and set a course for the head of a very surprised fan in the stands.

If you’ve ever seen a raptor up close, you know that being face-to-face with a very large flying predator is a far different experience than watching one silhouetted against the sky. So, the gentleman who became her impromptu perch handled the whole thing like a champ.

Berlino the Bear's Celebration Goes Awry

The act of celebrating is, on the most fundamental level, a spontaneous display of joy. So, when Jamaican Olympic track star Melanie Walker started celebrating after winning the gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2009 World Athletics Championships, you can’t blame her for hopping on the back of beckoning mascot Berlino the Bear for a celebratory piggyback ride.

But, we can blame Berlino for cruising right into a piece of equipment, sending Walker tumbling onto the track. Fortunately, she was no worse for the wear, while Berlino avoided sports infamy.

Freddie Pancakes Field Crasher

It’s not surprising that Atlanta Falcons mascot Freddie the Falcon was harboring some pent-up aggression last season—the team was reaching the low point of a multiyear slide from contender to disaster. What is surprising is the power the dude showed, launching (costume and all) into a Bucs fan crashing the field at the Georgia Dome.

It was a true takedown. And if you ask me, if an adult dresses up like a pirate on any occasion other than Halloween, the offense merits getting pancakes regardless of whether the person runs onto the field or not.

Keystone Sends Fan Tumbling

Before kickoff at home, New Mexico State Aggies mascot Pistol Pete laps the field riding Keystone, an actual horse, to fire up the crowd. At last year’s home opener against Cal Poly, Pistol Pete and Keystone started the pregame tradition quite normally, taking the field, team flag in hand. But during a turn along the edge of an end zone, Keystone clipped Zaina Atyani, a student who also does marketing work for the athletic department.

The collision sent her whirling to the turf, not unlike Josh McCown’s human helicopter routine in the Cleveland Brown’s home opener this year. Thankfully, she was fine, unlike the quarterback situation in Cleveland.

Bango Noms Fan

One of the great innovations of the 21^st century is the man-eating inflatable mascot costume, which has been responsible for countless moments of hilarity. And though it’s all part of the show, it’s a friggin’ great way to fake-maim a fan.

In April, Milwaukee Bucks mascot Bango added this awesome moment to the canon of videos depicting mascots eating people; in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Bango went in for the kill, moving decisively and hungrily.

Blitz Drops 49ers Fan with Awe Alone

At a Seattle Seahawks rally in 2014, a brave San Francisco 49ers fan volunteered to defend team mascot Blitz in a pass play. I’m sure the 49ers fan like his chances against a person in a bird costume, but his decision ended up being a huge miscalculation.

Moments later, he was backpedaling—dazzled by Blitz’s killer stutter-step—before falling face-first onto pavement.

Spurs Mascot Traumatizes Fans

In this instance, the mascot-related incident never jeopardized the physical health of fans looking on, but let’s not discount the impact of psychological trauma—something that can be just as debilitating. In a 2014 game between the home San Antonio Spurs and visiting Denver Nuggets, the two teams were fighting for a rebound when the ball fell out of bounds, colliding with the Spurs mascot.

In a horrifying display, "The Coyote" pulled himself off the floor, only to reveal that his eyes were grotesquely rotated. A few seconds later, his eyes fell off all together, causing the mascot to fumble about, eyeless, in front of fans at the arena.