By: Mark Woodland
His presence evokes cheers and applause from those who know him.
With a mere movement of his arms he can bring an entire stadium of people to their feet.
Cosmo the Cougar has been a symbol of BYU athletics and its fans for over 50 years, but he’s still going strong.
“My role is to instill school spirit,” Cosmo said. “If you are cheering, I want you to cheer louder. If you have given up, I want to instill hope. If you are down, I want to lift you up. Everything that embodies … the spirit of the Y, I want to engrain in every individual.”
Cosmo devotes (a lot of time) over the year to becoming a spokesman and ambassador for BYU.
Even during his humble beginnings as BYU’s mascot back in 1953 according to byucougars.com, Cosmo has given great effort to represent the university with pride.
“While I was recognized [as the school’s mascot], I didn’t get any funding for the first few years,” Cosmo said.
To fulfill his role as mascot, Cosmo was forced to cover his own expenses. One of the most memorable experiences of these first few years is driving all night through a snowstorm to reach a football game in Laramie, Wyo.
Since that time, Cosmo’s funding, and his popularity, has grown allowing this mascot to expand his routine of crowd-pleasing antics.
At the 1986 Homecoming football games, Cosmo jumped from a plane, parachuted into the football stadium and delivered the game ball to the referees.
At the 1990 Holiday Bowl in San Diego, Calif., Cosmo and Nittany Lion, mascot for Penn State, agreed to have a staged fight in front of each cheering section, allowing each mascot to win in front of their own fans.
In front of the Penn State crowd Cosmo submitted, but when wrestling for the BYU cheering section Nittany Lion wouldn’t quit.
“He actually tried to pin me there too, but I wouldn’t allow it,” Cosmo said. “I held him down a little longer than I normally would … I believe he learned his lesson in mascot etiquette that night.”
In recent years, Cosmo has prided himself on his acrobatic tricks and stunts.
Cosmo regularly performs tricks on stilts, unicycles and trampolines to please his audience.
At the 2002 opening football game against Syracuse University, Cosmo, clad in a Spiderman costume, climbed down the front of the press boxes in LaVell Edwards Stadium.
However, life as Cosmo isn’t always fun and games.
“I get poked, prodded, punched, kicked and grabbed whenever I go into the crowd,” Cosmo said.
The role of a university mascot is also one of hectic schedules and physical exhaustion.
Cosmo prides himself on his regular attendance at BYU events. Football, basketball, volleyball and baseball fans can see Cosmo at every home game and even some away games. The only exception is when there are two events at the same time.
Cosmo also takes part in community events such as parades, parties and fundraisers.
“Some weeks I attend more than 15 events,” Cosmo said.
Sometimes hours of preparation will go into just a few minutes of actual time in the spotlight, Cosmo said. “But every minute is well worth it.”
Even in the summer when a majority of students are on vacation, I still attend a couple events a week, Cosmo said.
With such a busy lifestyle full of jumps, flips and slam-dunks, it is impossible to avoid injury.
Cosmo has tallied up countless injuries including a concussion, bruised ribs, several rolled ankles, a bruised kidney and torn ligaments.
A full body of fur, along with an extremely physical routine, also causes Cosmo a great deal of discomfort.
“It is hot, hot, hot,” Cosmo said. “I once spent six hours in the heat and humidity of Annapolis, Md.”
But all that hair also has its benefits.
Cosmo has been known to have access to the stadium press boxes during halftime of football games. During these visits he has been able to numerous church and school leaders.
“No press pass needed,” Cosmo said. “The fur does it all.”
With so many years of mascot experience under his belt, and many more to come, Cosmo is not afraid to share his confidence in himself and BYU.
“Just like the university I work for, I am the best in the world,” he said.
