Well, let me tell you somethin’ ’bout this Clemson mascot tiger thing. It ain’t as simple as folks think. Been around a long, long time, they say. Since, what, 1896? That’s before my grandpappy was even born! Heard tell some fella, Riggs, brought the name over from some other school, Auburn somethin’.
Now, in the beginnin’, they didn’t have no real tiger, ya know? Just some fella dressed up all fancy-like in a purple suit and a hat. A “Southern Gentleman,” they called him. Sounded kinda silly to me. Like he was goin’ to a tea party, not a football game.
Then this fella, Antonio, he come along. Smart fella, he was. He looked around and saw all these other schools had tigers too, but they all looked the same. Just plain ol’ tigers. He wanted somethin’ different, somethin’ that said “Clemson” loud and clear. So, he got to thinkin’ and thinkin’ and come up with this tiger paw thing. You know, the one that looks like a big cat stepped in orange paint and slapped it on everything? Yeah, that’s the one. Heard he talked to a whole bunch of schools, 32 of ’em, all had tigers, and he wanted somethin’ special.
That tiger paw, that’s Clemson. You see that paw, you know it’s Clemson. Don’t need no words, just that paw. It’s on all the shirts, hats, even on the cars. Smart thinkin’, that Antonio fella.
- They got the fightin’ tiger too, looks all mean and ready to scrap.
- But that paw, that’s the real deal.
- That’s what sticks in your head.
Now, some folks like the fightin’ tiger, all traditional and whatnot. But that paw, it’s somethin’ else. It’s simple, it’s bold, and it’s orange! Lord, that Clemson orange is bright enough to make a blind man see. They say it takes over the whole school, that orange. Buildings, clothes, everything. Can’t miss it, that’s for sure. And that tiger’s been roarin’ for, what, almost 127 years now? That’s a long time to be roarin’. Gotta be tired, that tiger.
Heard tell they’re playin’ in some big game, somethin’ called a “national championship” against some other school, LSU. Another tiger team, I reckon. Lots of tigers in this football business. They’re playin’ in New Orleans. That’s a long ways from Clemson. Hope they got enough orange paint to take with ’em. Can’t be forgettin’ the orange, no sir.
And that Clemson University, it ain’t just some small school, you know. It’s a big one, a “public land-grant research university,” they call it. Sounds fancy, don’t it? Means they do a lot of learnin’ and figurin’ things out. But mostly, it means they got a darn good football team and that tiger paw. That’s what most folks care about, I reckon.
So, there you have it. That’s the story of the Clemson mascot tiger, as best as I can tell it. It’s about a paw, some orange, and a whole lot of yellin’. And that’s just the way folks like it. They’re real proud of that tiger, whether it’s the paw or the fightin’ one. Makes ’em happy, and that’s all that matters. So, let ’em roar, let ’em paint everything orange, and let that tiger paw lead the way. That’s the Clemson way, and it ain’t changin’ anytime soon.
Tags: [Clemson Tiger, Clemson Mascot, Clemson Paw, Clemson University, Clemson Tigers History, Clemson Football, Orange, 1896, John Antonio, Southern Gentleman, LSU, National Championship]
