Rocky the Lion has been part of the SRU community for 18 years.
He is the school’s third and current-reigning mascot. With an award-winning legacy, Rocky the Lion wears mane-y hats. He can be found at sports games, community events, ceremonies and more.
According to SRU’s website, Rocky was born on Jan. 1, 2007. He is meant to represent SRU pride and even supposedly worked as a sports writer for The Rocket.
Student Life Editor Annabelle Chipps spoke with one of several students who currently portrays Rocky to uncover details about life behind the mask.
Annabelle Chipps: How long have you been Rocky?
Rocky the Lion: I actually have no idea…I have a picture on my phone. I wanna say it’s been…two years…I lied. It’s been a year.
AC: Okay, so you’ve been Rocky for one year. How many Rockys are there?
Rocky: I have no idea. Every time that I do an event, I’ll find someone who’s like, “Yeah I’ve been Rocky before.” I know I’m specifically for non-athletic events, so.
AC: So what kind of events do you go to?
Rocky: A wide variety…Primarily stuff that involves the community, either Slippery Rock town or the university.
AC: So, when you are there at those kinds of events, what kind of things are you doing? Like, what goes through your head? What do you do?
Rocky: Usually, I just kind of stand there and take pictures. Sometimes I’ll do crowd work, but most of the time it’s just either stand there or sit there and take pictures with people.
AC: And do you enjoy doing that?
Rocky: It depends. I think it’s a fun experience I don’t think I’d get anywhere else. This specifically, it’s not the thing I want to go into; I don’t want to go into mascot performance. It depends if I’m sweating or not, cause if it’s really hot, I hate it. I had to go outside for a couple of events during the summer and I think that was the most miserable I’ve been.
AC: That does sound awful.
Rocky: Yeah.
AC: Does the costume smell bad?
Rocky: Sometimes. Usually they wash it, and the only time it’s bad is if they don’t and usually it’s my own stink, so it’s fine. There’s kind of like a musk to it…There’s been a couple of times where it will smell real bad, but it’s only if it’s my smell, so I don’t care as much.
AC: What’s it like to not be able to tell people about being Rocky?
Rocky: It’s hard…
AC: Well, what are the consequences if you do tell?
Rocky: I have no idea…I feel like they might fire me but I also don’t know.
AC: Right, what are some other kind of strict rules? Like, I know you’re not supposed to speak, right? What are some other unexpected kind of strict rules?
Rocky: In the bag…that has the costume, there’s a list of things. Just general rules for mascot characters. I cannot take the mask, the head, off around anyone, specifically children. I can’t smoke. I can’t eat…I can’t do anything inappropriate.
AC: Yeah, no that makes sense, that makes sense. So, Rockys in the past have gone to mascot conferences and done all these things within the mascot world. Do you have any involvement with that kind of stuff, or has it just been a Slippery Rock adventure?
Rocky: No, it’s only been one thing outside of the campus.
…
AC: Okay, so, what’s something you wish people knew about either Rocky as a character or being Rocky?
Rocky: I cannot see out of my peripherals at all. I get a lot of high-fives [that are] just slightly outside [my field of vision] and it’s usually children. So, I’ll just kind of leave them hanging. I wish that they knew that it wasn’t personal, ‘cause I feel bad whenever I catch it.
AC: Right, it’s just hard to see.
Rocky: Yeah.
AC: Was there anything surprising about being Rocky that you didn’t expect? I mean, periphery as an example, you didn’t expect that you wouldn’t have peripheral vision, right?
Rocky: Yeah, I didn’t expect how…differently I have to move because there’s shoes and those are a pain in the ass to walk in sometimes. I’ve gotten better at it the more I’ve done it, but that was hard walking anywhere. For a while, I didn’t wear the padding under my costume. I wish I would’ve known how important that was. One time, someone saw me…and said how I looked like Rocky on Ozempic because of how skinny I looked. Now I wear the padding and it’s a lot easier to move around in. But I wouldn’t wear it [at first.] My shoulders were really sore afterwards; I had to keep them up to keep the head on. I wish I would’ve known how important [padding] was.
AC: So, when you became Rocky, What made you think, “Like, I want to do this?”
Rocky: I just thought it was something fun, that it was an experience that I wouldn’t get anywhere else.
AC: Yes, okay. Do you have any advice for future Rocky? For anyone else who wants to be Rocky?
Rocky: Make sure to get something to keep your hair out of your face because I’ve been stuck in the costume with my hair like slowly coming down into my eyes and I can’t move it so it takes away my already limited view. Wear as little clothes as you can. And make sure that you have someone to [help] walk you around.
AC: Okay so, kind of with that, how do you—I only have this, and then one more question—how do you get into character?
Rocky: I think a lot about the other mascots that I’ve seen either at sporting events or just at Disney World or whatever and I try to emulate that. I try to make all of my actions big…I think more of my perspective as Rocky’s. I’m like, “Oh, I am Slippery Rock. This is mine. I’m Rocky and everyone loves me.” That helps me not feel embarrassed, and knowing that no one knows who I am helps a lot because then…I can be more in character and have less stage fright because it’s just that—anna, anno—
AC: Anonymity?
Rocky: Anonymity, yes! It helps a lot.
AC: Well, I guess technically I have two more questions, sorry, and then I won’t take any more of your time. Who is Rocky as a character, like what kind of personality traits does he have?
Rocky: He is proud and friendly, and proud of himself and everyone else in Slippery Rock. And he is friendly, I said that already. I can’t think of another word. Fearless!
AC: That’s a really good answer. Okay, so my last thing…any additional comments about being Rocky or Rocky at all, just anything you wanna add? No pressure if you don’t have anything.
Rocky: I’m just really grateful to have the opportunity to do something that I never wouldn’t expected…it helps me view my future career path in a different lens.
AC: Is there anything else?
Rocky: I really, really enjoy—I haven’t had too many experiences with small children—but those few experiences that I’ve had really make me love the job because it’s nice seeing the kind of joy that I would get whenever I would see a costumed character…Being the character and seeing the joy from the children…I feel like I’ve gone through a lot of hard moments as Rocky, but the reason I keep coming back is making people happy. I think it’s fun. And even when it’s college people, I know it’s fun and I make people smile. Even if they are making fun of me, I don’t care. I’m still giving them something to laugh at and it’s something bringing joy in a way, so I actually think that’s one of the main reasons I keep on going back.
AC: Yeah, that’s awesome…I do have a follow up question about, you said there are some harder moments of being Rocky. Would you want to outline those? If not, that’s fine.
Rocky: Oh, It’s just hot as f— in there. I’ll get itches somewhere on my face and I can’t scratch it and it’s torturous. Oh my God, I think that’s the worst thing, just having an itch I can’t scratch.
AC: A literal itch you cannot scratch…Well, thank you so much for meeting with me. I really appreciate it…
Rocky: Yeah!
AC: Have a great day. Thank you, bye.
Rocky: You too! Thank you. Bye.
