The Penn Stater Magazine

This week’s issue of ESPN Magazine has a great piece on college mascots, centered almost entirely on our own Nittany Lion mascot. The writer, Larry Smith, followed current mascot Clint Gyory around during Homecoming weekend and wrote a terrific article, accompanied by excellent photos by John Loomis. He talks about the hilarious skit that got Gyory the job, about what kind of shape the lion suit is in after a football game (says Gyory: “It smells like death”), and about some of the rules of being a mascot (never stop moving, never talk, never take off your head).

A fact I didn’t know: The Lion suit is machine washable.

Here’s a little more:

The suit is stored in the Lion’s Den—also known as the basement of the house Clint shares with four roommates—next to a boom box, cases of ramen noodles and a freezer stuffed with chicken wings. Four backup Lion suits hang next to it, all stored out of sight. “You don’t let people see it, get in it, play with it,” he says. “You keep the suit safe.”

The article isn’t available online unless you pay to become an “ESPN Insider,” but you should be able to pick up a hard copy at your local newsstand. The date on the magazine is Nov. 30, so it should be available for a few more days, I think. It’s the one with Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson on the cover.

Tina Hay, editor