Big Al (mascot)

Big Al
	200px Big Al at Bryant Denny Stadium
University	University of Alabama
Conference	SEC
Description	Anthropomorphic elephant
Origin of name	University of Alabama
First seen	1980

Big Al is the costumed mascot of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The origin of the mascot dates back to 1930. On October 8, a sportswriter wrote about the previous weekend's Alabama-Ole Miss football game. The writer, using the flair for the dramatic common in sportswriting at the time, wrote that an anonymous fan yelled out "Hold your horses, the elephants are coming!" upon hearing the rumble of the first team coming on the field. The name stuck throughout what became a national championship season and beyond.

Melford Espey, Jr., then a student, was the first to wear an elephant head costume to portray the Crimson Tide's mascot in the early 1960s. Espey later became a university administrator and Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant asked him to take responsibility when student groups asked to resurrect the costumed mascot in the late 1970s.^[1]

The "Big Al" mascot officially debuted at the 1980 Sugar Bowl, when the 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team beat the Arkansas Razorbacks. Student Hugh Dye earned the honor to bring "Big Al" back to life in New Orleans, followed by Kent Howard and Maury Smith to kickoff the inaugural 1980 season and roam the sidelines. "Big Al" celebrated his first year with Bear Bryant's 300th win against Kentucky and a win against Baylor in the 1981 Cotton Bowl. Since then, the mascot has been a fan favorite for the Tide fans. As the Crimson Tide does not have a logo on their helmets or uniforms, Big Al's likeness appears on much of the merchandise.

Big Al was the idea of University of Alabama student Walt Tart. He was meeting with the homecoming chairman Ann Paige in 1979 as they were trying to come up with something different for the homecoming parade. Walt was able to get a tank from his friend Tony Gaines, the Marine recruiter on campus. He told Ann that several of the schools in the SEC had mascot costumes and the University of Alabama should get one as well. After contacting the University of Kentucky and a few other schools, Walt was able to discover that their mascots were designed and constructed by Disney. He contacted Disney and got a price for the design and construction of the elephant costume. Since the funding for the mascot costume would come from the athletic department, Walt and Ann set up a meeting with Paul "Bear" Bryant as he was not only the football coach, but also the athletic director. As Walt and Ann sat outside The Coach's office, Walt told Ann that they had to be very professional in their presentation and not to ask for his autograph...she agreed. When they explained why there were there, Coach Bryant teased them about having an elephant on the field and the mess it would make. They assured him that it was just a person in an elephant costume and not a real one...the Coach gave a big grin and said he knew all along. He said he thought elephants were very smart, but a little slow. The Coach talked about growing up in Arkansas and the fun he had as a child. And how much he enjoyed coaching football at the University of Alabama. Over all, the meeting went very well as Coach Bryant said they could have the funds for the elephant costume. Meeting The Coach was a great experience that both students would never forget. As they were leaving the Coach's office Ann asked if she could have his autograph...Walt said "me too!" He was gracious enough to give them both autographs.

Big Al was named by student vote. At the time of the vote, there was a popular DJ on campus by the name of Al Brown, who DJ'd many of the largest campus parties, including those hosted by members of the football team. 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.

References

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External links

Big Al on Alabama Crimson Tide website

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[1]

v t e Alabama Crimson Tide football
Venues	University of Alabama Quad (1893–1914) Denny Field (1915–1928) Bryant–Denny Stadium (1929–present) Rickwood Field (alternate, 1912–1927) Cramton Bowl (alternate, 1922–1954) Ernest F. Ladd Stadium (alternate, 1948–1968) Legion Field (alternate, 1927–2003)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Auburn: Iron Bowl (James E. Foy, V-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy) LSU Mississippi State Ole Miss Penn State Tennessee: Third Saturday in October
Culture & lore	Saban era Traditions Big Al "Yea Alabama" A-Day 1922 Penn game Punt Bama Punt "Game of the Century" "Manziel beats Bama" Kick Six Million Dollar Band Walk of Fame Paul W. Bryant Museum The Bear The Bear Bryant Show Porter Cup 1943 Informals
People	Head coaches All-Americans College Football Hall of Fame inductees NFL draftees Starting quarterbacks Statistical leaders Champ Pickens
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball
Venues	Little Hall (1915–1939) Foster Auditorium (1939–1968) Coleman Coliseum (1968–present)
Rivalries	Auburn
Culture & lore	History Traditions Big Al Mark's Madness / Crimson Chaos
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
Premo-Porretta national championship in bold

v t e Mascots of the Southeastern Conference
Eastern Division	Albert and Alberta (Florida) Hairy Dawg and Uga (Georgia) The Wildcat, Scratch, and Blue (Kentucky) Truman the Tiger (Missouri) Cocky and Sir Big Spur (South Carolina) Smokey (Tennessee) Mr. C (Vanderbilt)
Western Division	Big Al (Alabama) Big Red, Sue E. Pig, Pork Chop, Boss Hog, and Tusk (Arkansas) Aubie (Auburn) Mike the Tiger (LSU) Bully (Mississippi State) Rebel Black Bear (Ole Miss) Reveille (Texas A&M)

Big Al (mascot)

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