College sports mascots put aside rivalries to send encouraging message amid coronavirus pandemic

Chris Cwik
Updated

College sports mascots realize the value in staying home during the coronavirus pandemic. To prove that, a group of mascots put aside their rivalries to record a PSA encouraging others to remain indoors and stay safe.

The video, which was organized by Montclair State University grad student Daniel Waffenfeld, contains 20 different mascots, including Aubie the Tiger from Auburn and Roc the Panther from the University of Pittsburgh. Montclair’s mascot, Rocky the Red Hawk, gets the starring role, of course.

Beneath all the mascot pictures, the text reads, “Reach out to your buddies when you need them.” Near the end of the video, every mascot holds up a sign reading #StayHome.

The video ends with the following message:

“We’re all in this together. Reach out to friends and family. #AloneTogether.”

Waffenfeld told Yahoo Sports he was inspired to make the video after his mother urged Waffenfeld to do something to make others smile. He worked with Montclair’s mascot advisor Hannah Wiese and Montclair graduating senior Paul McGroarty, who edited the video, to make it happen.

The project took roughly two-and-a-half weeks to coordinate. It took a bit longer than expected since some of the participating schools closed abruptly as a result of coronavirus. Waffenfeld reached out to over 200 schools. While only 20 took part in the final video, many others wanted to join, but couldn’t due to the pandemic.

“Unfortunately these schools were closed or had no access to the mascot costumes,” Waffenfeld said.

Those schools weren’t able to participate this time around, but Waffenfeld said the schools that couldn’t take part in this video want to help with future projects. If and when universities open up again in the fall, expect to see some of these mascots — and maybe a few more — banding together once again.

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Originally published