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Perry Schneider
Autobiography: Sports Culture
01-28-17
English 2089
National sports culture is filled with many different rituals and traditions. Many people
have their own individual and personal traditions that are brand new or even passed down from
through the last generations. My father and I have our own rituals that occur every football
season and even afterwards. I love the fact that sports can bring people together form any and all
backgrounds and that it always has a positive outcome.
The NCAA is full of many special traditions and rituals, some dating back to even as
early as the beginning of the 20th century. My dad and I are die hard Florida State football fans
because of him attending school there and playing division one baseball for them. The biggest
tradition Florida State has is when their mascot, Chief Osceola charges out onto the home field
on horseback, rears the horse on his hind legs, and throws a flaming spear into the center of the
field. The crowd goes crazy right before kickoff and it fires up the Seminoles to go out there and
get a win. When you watch this from home, you can truly feel the energy coming from Doak
Campbell Stadium even if you have never been to a Florida State football game before. (NBC
Sports) Another great college football tradition is with Ohio State’s marching band. The band
will make a “script Ohio” formation and it is a huge honor to be the “dot” on the I. According to
NBC Sports, Ohio State usually gives the honor to a senior saxophonist or tuba player.(NBC
Sports) One of my favorite college football traditions occurs during the annual Army vs. Navy
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game. Before each game, cadets (Army) and midshipmen (Navy) enter the stadium in various
marching patterns on their way to be seated. The students are almost never seated during games.
This tradition is very special because of the military significance with it being a bitter rivalry.
(NBC Sports) One of the most well-known traditions in the NCAA is Auburn’s War Eagle.
Before each home game, the War Eagle flies around the stadium to rally both fans and players.
According to legend, the first War Eagle was recovered on a civil war battlefield. An unknown
soldier brought it to the Auburn game. Eventually the eagle broke free from the soldier during an
Auburn vs. Georgia football game, and since then the bird has had its legacy. (NBC Sports) The
University of Texas has a very unique tradition. Back in 1955, A Texas cheerleader came up
with a hand gesture along with the motto “hook em’ horns”. When doing the gesture, you hold
your middle and ring finger underneath your thumb and hold it straight up. (NBC Sports)
Like college football, the NFL has many exquisite traditions. With me being a Seattle
Seahawks fan, my personal favorite tradition is the raising of the 12th man flag at the Seahawks
home games. Seattle’s fans are known as the 12th man because there are 11 men on the field at a
time and the fans are so loud that they can actually effect gameplay for an opposing offense.
Also, Seattle’s CenturyLink field was designed with noise in mind. Their stadium has the illusion
of fans flowing over the edge of the seats, making it intimidating to other teams. The stadium is
also shaped inwards to keep noise echoing off of the huge rounded outer shell. (Silverman) One
of the more classic NFL traditions is the Pittsburgh Steelers terrible towel. The towel started as a
radio gimmick led by Steelers analyst Myron Cope. In 1975, Cope started waving his terrible
towel from his radio booth, and fans quickly caught on.
They have been waving their towels for almost forty years, and it’s a symbol of the great Steelers
teams that won four Super Bowls during the 1970s and have since added two more
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championships. (Silverman) The Green Bay Packers and their fans share one of the most
intimate traditions in the NFL. They celebrate touchdowns at Lambeau Field in a rather unique
and intimate way. It’s not a matter of spiking the ball or even throwing it into the stands. When
the Packers score touchdowns at the venerable football stadium they hurl themselves into the
stands so they can receive congratulations and celebrate with the ticket-buying public. The
Lambeau Leap started in 1993 when defensive back LeRoy Butler jumped over
a low wall and into a group of fans following a touchdown return against the Los Angeles
Raiders in 1993. A statue commemorating the first leap featuring a likeness of Butler and four
fans was erected outside of Lambeau Field. (Silverman) The New York Giants started one of the
traditional celebrations in all of sports. During the 1985 season, nose tackle Jim Burt was the first
player to dump Gatorade on his coach, and his victim was Bill Parcells following a win over the
