• HOME
  • BEST OF PARTY PHOTOS
  • FEATURES
    • Best Of Cover Shoot
    • Pet Owner’s Stories
    • People
    • Places
    • Issues
    • Remembering
    • Things
    • To Do
  • DEPARTMENTS
    • Finance / Real Estate
      • Financial Articles
      • Real Estate
        • Real Estate Experts
        • Top 10 Most Expensive Homes Sold
        • Articles
    • Around Town
    • Business
      • Belle Hall Shopping Center
      • Lowcountry Women in Business
      • MP Business
    • Dwellings
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Food & Drink
    • Giving Back
    • Health & Wellness
    • Love & Marriage
    • Pets
    • Relax & Retire
    • Sports & Fitness
  • Read Magazine
  • MORE MAGS
    • Charleston Women 👩‍🏫🏢
    • Lowcountry Cuisine 🧀🍷
    • Best of Mt Pleasant Mag 🏆🏆
    • MP Business Mag 🏢
    • MP Pets 🐶🐱
    • Charleston Independent School Directory 🏫
    • MP Senior Living 👴👵
    • More Mags
      • IOP Mag
      • SI Mag
      • MP Town Hall Magazine
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Attorney Directory
    • 2025 Charleston Wedding Venues
    • Pool Builders/Services Directory
    • Financial Planners
    • Mount Pleasant Area Hotel Directory
    • East Cooper Worship Guide
    • East Cooper Fitness Directory
    • Senior Living Directory
    • 2023 Local CPA Tax Directory
    • Mount Pleasant Apartment Directory
  • SUBSCRIBE

Mount Pleasant Magazine

Mount Pleasant Magazine is the premier lifestyle magazine for Mount Pleasant, SC. Read about local news, events, businesses, people, and more. Subscribe today or read our digital magazine online.

  • Best of Mount Pleasant
    • 2025 Best of Mount Pleasant Including Previous Years
    • Best of Mount Pleasant Winner Articles
    • Best Of Party Photos
  • Podcasts
    • Mount Pleasant Podcast
    • Carolina Real Estate Podcast
    • Georgetown the Podcast
    • Coastal Home Podcast Video Tour
    • Best of Mount Pleasant Podcast
    • Hammock Coast Podcast
    • More Podcasts
      • Charleston Women Podcast
      • Isle of Palms Podcast
      • Charleston Pet Podcast
      • Charleston Wedding Podcast
  • Top Ten Homes Sold
  • Advertise
    • Advertise With Us
    • Media Kit
    • Video Testimonials
  • About Our Team
  • MORE
    • Real Estate Experts
    • MP Town Hall
    • Attorney Directory
    • News
    • MP Neighborhoods
    • East Cooper Online Network
    • Contact

Fearless and Ferocious: Mascots Are the Heart of Clemson/USC Rivalry

Posted by MPM 1 Comment

There is a bitter rivalry deeper than the ancient roots of the oldest live oaks at Boone Hall Plantation and longer than the stretch from the Lowcountry to the Upstate. It is embodiedUSC/Clemson Mascots with tradition and emotion and has the power to both split apart and bring together an entire state. Its storied history is littered with triumph and despair for both sides.

RELATED: Heard any Good Clemson/Carolina Jokes Lately?

Signs of the rivalry between supporters of the University of South Carolina and those who owe their allegiance to Clemson University are obvious throughout the Palmetto State, on T-shirts, baseball caps, bumper stickers, flags, doormats and even tattoos.

As the the annual football game between South Carolina Clemson approaches, tranquility abandons the Palmetto State, replaced by feverish fandom and a fanatical display of pride by those who proudly wear USC’s garnet and black colors and their adversaries who bask in the purple and orange of Clemson.

At the heart of the Carolina and Clemson rivalry are two mascots: A fearless and boastful gamecock named Cocky and a ferocious Tiger.

Mascots such as Cocky and The Tiger have been bringing their teams luck and energy for years. The word mascot comes from a French term, “‘mascotte,” which, fittingly, means lucky charm. Mascots came to America in the early 1900s, when teams started using live animals – many of them dangerous – to provide extra entertainment during sporting events. In the 1960s, sports teams began to replace animals with Muppet-like mascots, which proved to be marketing gold mines. Before long, many sports teams adopted mascots to compete with the San Diego Chicken and the Phillie Phanatic.

USC GamecocksEnter Cocky, a 6-foot-tall boisterous bird who jumps through fire and tugs on Tiger tails for a living. Cocky was kind enough to sit down with Mount Pleasant Magazine for a pre-season interview.

Cocky made his sideline debut in 1980 as a replacement for his “father” and former South Carolina mascot Big Spur. Initially, Cocky wasn’t received well by his Carolina friends and was booed off the field. But, over time, his persistence paid off, and these days he can be found fueling the flames of enthusiasm for 80,000+ Gamecock fans at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The current Cocky – we’ll call him Fred for the sake of this story because both USC and Clemson prefer to keep the names of their mascots confidential – was born into a lineage of Gamecock alumni. As a kid, he remembers watching every USC football game in the same local Gamecock bar. When Fred was a senior in high school, his godfather, a former member of the South Carolina marching band, passed away. To honor him, Fred vowed to follow in his footsteps at USC.

USC's Cocky and his fans Fred was destined for the Cocky suit. On the first day of freshman orientation, he approached Cocky, who was cheering along the incoming class of USC students. “Hey, I want your job,” Fred told the uninterested rooster.

But over time, Fred would prove his worth. Cocky had his eye on the zealous freshman, who would skip classes to attend USC women’s volleyball games and equestrian meets.

“If any USC sporting event was quiet and dead, I would make them loud and alive,” said Fred of his freshman year.

One day, wearing full body paint, Fred was approached at a USC women’s soccer game and asked if he’d like to try out to become the next Cocky. He made the roster and learned the ways of Cocky, including the mantra to never be afraid of anything while he was wearing his fighting rooster suit.

“I’ve found that it’s always better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission,” he explained.

For Fred, nothing in this world compares to a fall football Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina. Hours before the game, he can be found dancing in his 35-pound Cocky suit, with that relentless Midlands sun beating down on his feathers.

Fred feeds off the Gamecock fight song that blasts from the trumpets and drums of the marching band, which follows him through the sea of Gamecock fans and into Williams-Brice Stadium on game day.

With kickoff just seconds away, Fred stands quietly in his box, which is covered by a black sheet. Cocky’s Magic Box Entrance is Fred’s favorite Gamecock tradition. The noise among the crowd of 83,000 is reduced to a whisper, Fred’s heart begins to race and the curtains drop. A 6-foot-tall fighting rooster emerges, fireworks shoot from his box and Williams-Brice Stadium goes absolutely insane.

“The intensity is amazing. I can’t explain how poetic it all is,” Fred said. “In those moments, I disappear and it’s no longer me. It’s Cocky.”

Clemson TigersOne hundred thirty two miles away at Memorial Stadium, “Death Valley” to Clemson’s rabid fans, sits a Tiger who is starting to get very hungry after losing the past five seasons to his arch nemesis Cocky. In the suit is Anthony, a Clemson Tiger from birth.

As a freshman, Anthony yearned to fully engross himself in the Clemson lifestyle, and The Tiger caught his eye. After a two-week “fraternity-like” tryout, he made the Tiger roster and earned a spot inside the Tiger suit.

“Becoming the Tiger was about going after something and having the ambition to succeed and get this role representing my university,” Anthony said.

As is true for Cocky, the Clemson/ Carolina rivalry runs deep in The Tiger’s veins.

“It’s the biggest rivalry in the nation,” Anthony gushed. “And growing up, we just didn’t lose to Carolina.”

The Tiger and his fansFor Anthony, being The Tiger is a lifestyle that reaches its apex on game day in Clemson. The Tiger is always in great demand, maneuvering from pregame parades to pep rallies and energizing the masses of Clemson fans. Then comes one of the most hallowed traditions in sports: Running down the hill. Around Clemson, the tradition is known as “the most exciting 25 seconds in college football,” when the players run down an orange hill and onto Frank Howard Field, touching Howard’s Rock for luck, as thousands of orange balloons are released into the air.

“Being on that hill while the players run down and onto the field is the biggest rush I’ve ever felt in my life,” Anthony said.

Pushups are another Clemson football tradition near to Anthony’s heart. After every Clemson score, The Tiger leaps onto a board held up by ROTC members and does a pushup for each point. The Tiger is said to sweat off an average of 12 pounds per game in water weight.

Each Tiger who graduates autographs the pushup board.

“It’s going to be a huge honor to see my name on that board one day,” Anthony said.

The Tiger and Cocky will once again face off in Death Valley on Nov. 29. Each mascot will sweat, cheer, dance, taunt, tease and scream as hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians follow their lead in an effort to root their team to victory.

The Tiger wanted to send Cocky a final message that embodies his angst and lust for revenge for five consecutive losses to USC.

“I’m at the point now where we could lose every other game this season, as long as we best the University of South Carolina,” growled The Tiger.

Story by Cullen Murray-Kemp

Photos courtesy of Clemson University and the University of South Carolina

Sharing is Caring

Possibly Related:

Rob Fowler, Chief Meteorologist, NEWS 2Brace Yourself: Expecting Above-average Hurricane Season for 2024 Kick it Kicks Mount Pleasant, SC boutique shoe store - featured imageKickin’ It New School: Teen Opens Kick It Kicks Boutique Shoe Store Mount Pleasant Podcast logoGridiron Gurus: Local High School Football Coaches Sound Off!

Filed Under: Issues

Advertisement

Comments

  1. Michael says

    September 28, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    Great stuff. Need more stories like this one.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search The Site

We're on Facebook We're on X (formerly Twitter) Mount Pleasant Magazine Youtube Channel We're on Pinterest Mount Pleasant Magazine Facebook Community We're on Instagram
Ad: South Carolina Federal Credit Union, enjoy life banking on the best.
Ad: Visit Woof Gang today!
Mount Pleasant Magazine Sep/Oct 2023 magazine coverREAD DIGITALLY
Read the digital magazine
now.
GRAB A COPY
Where can I pick up a copy of Mount Pleasant Magazine?
SUBSCRIBE
Get Mount Pleasant Magazine Delivered.
Ad: Premier Health and Wellness in Mount Pleasant, SC. Let’s Redesign Your Health & Wellness.
Read about the History of the Bridge Run
Visit Palmetto Christian Academy.org
Ad: 1st Choice AC, Heating, Plumbing and Gas, for the best AC Service for your home in Mount Pleasant, SC.
Pleasant Family Dentistry in Mount Pleasant, SC. Experience the BEST, and find out why we've been awarded 7 times in the BEST of MOUNT PLEASANT!
Ad: Visit Front Beach IOP and SHOP, DINE and DRINK in the SUNSHINE.
Ad: Get Carried Away - Real Food, Real Southern, Really Good!
Click for Stores & Services
on Coleman Boulevard
Coleman Blvd Merchant Alliance
Best of Mount Pleasant logo is a registered trademark
Ad: Every Day is a Good Dog Day at Michael's Barkery

Most Recent Posts

The Rotary’s Biggest Splash: 2025 Charleston Duck Race in the Wando!

The Charleston Duck Race is back on the Wando River! Tune in as Evan Murray, the 'Head Duck' Fundraising Chair, joins host Brian Cleary to reveal all the details about this highly anticipated … Continue Reading

Paved with Passion: Morales Pavers

Morales Pavers started with a simple mission: to transform outdoor spaces and convert them into something people could truly enjoy. But what makes this family-owned business stand out isn’t just the … Continue Reading

Style That Speaks: Megan Molten Design + Shop

Megan Molten, founder and chief creative officer of Megan Molten Design + Shop, has always had a passion for interior design. When Molten purchased her first home, she started sharing the “modern … Continue Reading

Front Street Georgetown

Opening Batch: Georgetown Crafts First Brewery

A craft beer fan and teacher from Cincinnati, Chase Runyan started brewing in his house by tinkering with kits and learning how to bottle the beer after fermentation. After making five or six batches … Continue Reading

Revolutionized: Georgetown’s Downtown Makeover

When the port city of Georgetown was laid out in 1729, merchant-oriented businesses and homes lined the land side of Front Street, originally called Bay Street, overlooking the sparkling Sampit River, … Continue Reading

Gold Standard: Georgetown’s Own Crowned Olympic Champion

When 23-year-old Nike athlete and Georgetown native Melissa Jefferson arrived at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June, she was determined to secure her … Continue Reading

More Front Street Georgetown

SEARCH

Get Our Free Newsletter!
Mount Pleasant Apartments
Pleasant Family Dentistry
Water's Edge Dentistry
34 Waterway Island Drive

Copyright © 2025 · Mount Pleasant Magazine, All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy