Unveiling the Iowa Hawkeye Tiger Hawk: A look at the iconic mascot.

Alright, let’s talk about this Iowa Hawkeye Tiger Hawk thing, ya know? It’s a whole big deal ’round here, but nobody really tells ya the whole story straight.

So, first off, they call us Hawkeyes. Been callin’ us that since way back in 1859, they say. Some fella, a judge from Burlington, he read this book, somethin’ ’bout Mohicans, and he thought, “Hey, that’s us!” Another fella, Edwards, he agreed. So, Hawkeyes it was. Don’t ask me why, I ain’t read no books ’bout no Mohicans. Hawkeyes, that’s what we are.

Then there’s this bird, Herky. See, they wanted a mascot, somethin’ to get folks riled up at the games. Someone drew a picture, and folks liked it. They had a contest, ya know, like they do for pies at the county fair. Some fella from Belle Plaine, he says, “Call him Hercules the Hawk!” But that’s too long, so they just call him Herky. He’s got this big ol’ head and feathers and he runs around makin’ a fool of himself, but the kids love him. Herky the Hawk, that’s our guy.

Now, the real puzzle is this Tiger Hawk. What in tarnation is a Tiger Hawk, you ask? Well, it ain’t no real animal, that’s for sure. It’s just a picture, a fancy lookin’ bird. They say it’s supposed to be a Red-tailed Hawk, but they call it a Tiger Hawk ’cause… well, I don’t rightly know why. Sounds meaner, I guess. This here Tiger Hawk, it’s everywhere now. You see it on cars, on shirts, on hats… heck, you probably even see it on the outhouse door if you look hard enough.

It all started with a coach, Hayden Fry. He’s gone now, bless his heart. But he’s the one who brought this Tiger Hawk to Iowa.
He told some fella, Bill Colbert, to draw it up. And Bill, he did a good job, I reckon. Now that picture is everywhere.
They say it’s the “icon” for all the Iowa sports. Icon? Sounds fancy. It just means it’s the picture they use for everything.

This Tiger Hawk, it ain’t just a picture, see? It’s supposed to mean somethin’. They say it means pride, and it connects all us Hawkeyes together. Whether you’re sittin’ in the stadium, listenin’ on the radio, or just readin’ about it in the newspaper, that Tiger Hawk, it’s supposed to make ya feel like you’re part of somethin’ bigger. Pride and connection, that’s what they say.

Before Herky and the Tiger Hawk, they tried all sorts of things for mascots. A real live bear, they say! Can you imagine that? Big ol’ bear runnin’ around, probably scarin’ the kids half to death. Then they had these big dogs, Great Danes. But nothin’ stuck, not like Herky and that Tiger Hawk.

So, that’s the story, as best as I can tell it. We’re Hawkeyes, named after somethin’ in a book I ain’t read. We got Herky the Hawk, a goofy bird that makes us laugh. And we got this Tiger Hawk, a fancy picture that’s supposed to make us proud. It’s all a bit confusing, if you ask me, but that’s just how things are ’round here. We love our Hawkeyes, and we love that Tiger Hawk, even if we don’t always know why.

And that Hayden Fry fella, he was somethin’ special. They say that Tiger Hawk is part of Iowa’s landscape now, just like the cornfields and the barns. He done good, that Hayden Fry. Real good.

So next time you see that Tiger Hawk, you’ll know a little somethin’ about it. It’s more than just a bird, it’s us, it’s Iowa, it’s… well, it’s somethin’ special, even if I can’t quite put my finger on it.