PROVO, Utah — It would be difficult to find anyone in the state of Utah that doesn't know Cosmo the Cougar. The mascot's stunts and tricks have made their way all over the world and now into a new era of BYU in the Big 12.
Think of all the great players to take the field for the Cougars and Cosmo may be one that might rise above the rest, having been an athlete at the school for 70 years.
Back in Oct. 1953, a man named Danny Gallego decided to don a character
and hang out in the stands throwing flips, tricks and stunts.
These days, David Eberhard is in charge of the Cosmo program at BYU.
"I have two try outs a year, one in April, one in September," he says.
Eberhard was a former NBA mascot and knows all about the mascot business. When he arrived on campus Cosmo was a thing, but nobody was really overseeing what they were doing.
"It used to just be, 'Hey, you wanna do it? Jump in and we will train you as we go," he explained. "Now, most of the people that will finally get into character will have been here for even one year, two years or three years."
After a warm up at games, Cosmo emerges ready to go, but the uniform isn’t always forgiving.
"Imagine wearing a fur coat head-to-toe in the middle of the summer and just being like, 'Yeah, I'm gonna go do flips and tricks," explained Eberhard.
During Fridays home game vs. Cincinnati, the stakes will be even higher as Cosmo attempts to break a world record.
"We are going to have Cosmo double-dutch, light him on fire, so fire and double-dutch, and then he will be doing 12 consecutive back flips while double-dutching," Eberhard said.
Raising the bar isn’t easy. So hour after hour and day after day, practice and safety is key.
"Safety for sure is our No. 1 key," said Eberhard. "I don't care how cool it is. Like if I think you're going to break your neck, I'm not sending it... that's just not going to happen."
In the past few years, Cosmo's stunts have made him a household name in Utah, with a social media reach spread to people around the world. But what ultimately endears the mascot to fans is the heart behind the character.
"That spontaneity and that fun interaction that you can have with people is definitely a great way for people to connect with BYU, connect with the programs, connect with teams," Eberhard said. "So people are recognizing us because of Cosmo and his reach, and that kind of stuff or like, 'Hey, I'm not a BYU fan, but that Cosmo!"
So as practice makes perfect and Cosmo makes memories, it's a program that wont soon end as the mascot, the BYU Dunk Team and all Cougars will rally behind player #00 as the school heads into a new era of Big 12 sports.
"We love our fans," said Eberhard, "and we play to their love, and if they love what we're doing, we're going to keep it coming."
