Goldy Gopher has a new line on the résumé: Hall of Famer.
The University of Minnesota’s long-running mascot was named to the Mascot Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026, a five-member group unveiled Friday morning on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The selection came through a mix of public voting and ballots from the Mascots Hall of Fame Executive Committee.
In the Hall’s announcement, Goldy was praised this way: “Unmistakable grin, legendary dance moves, and a spinning head that’s become a signature move - Goldy has spent decades defining what mascot entertainment looks like at the collegiate level for the University of Minnesota.”
Goldy’s place in Minnesota lore goes back a long way. The state became known as the Gopher State after a political cartoon in 1857, the university’s teams took on the Gophers name in the 1920s, and Goldy first came to life as a performing mascot in 1952, with help from marching band members.
The mascot has also built a championship resume. Goldy won the Universal Cheerleaders Association mascot national championship in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. The university says Goldy shows up live at more than 600 events each year.
The Mascot Hall of Fame, founded in 2005 by David Raymond and Christopher Bruce, is an online museum, with Bruce still serving as curator. Its mission, according to the website, is to celebrate the people and characters behind mascot performances and the energy they bring to sports and communities. A physical museum opened in Whiting, Ind., in December 2018, but closed in June 2024.
Goldy’s Hall of Fame class includes two other college mascots, South Carolina’s Cocky and Brigham Young’s Cosmo. The other two inductees are the Denver Broncos’ Miles and Mrs.
Met, who becomes the first female mascot in the Hall of Fame. With Mr.
Met having been inducted in 2007, the New York Mets now have the first pair of mascots in the Hall.
In Other News...
P.J. Fleck Is Getting Rare Belief Before Minnesota's Big Ten Test
P.J. Fleck has spent plenty of time under the microscope in Minneapolis, and one of his more skeptical observers is sounding a little different these days. Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse, who has not exactly been a steady backer of the Minnesota coach over the years, recently took a more optimistic view of where Fleck and the Gophers stand, pointing to the coachs growth, the resources around him and a path that could still leave Minnesota in decent shape in Big Ten play.
That optimism still comes with a hard dose of reality, because the schedule offers very little margin for comfort. Minnesota is staring at a run that includes Washington, Michigan, Purdue, Iowa, Indiana, UCLA and Penn State, a stretch that will say a lot about whether this group can meet that projected floor and keep the season from turning into another grind. [Read more 🡒]
Brock Lesnars Minnesota Farewell Brings Back A Wild Vikings Memory
Brock Lesnars announcement that his pro wrestling run is over closes the book on a career that stretched far beyond the ring, from mixed martial arts to one of the more improbable detours in Minnesota sports memory. For Gophers fans, his farewell also brings back the image of a former NCAA heavyweight champion who once turned Minneapolis into the center of his wrestling world, then tried to make an even bigger leap by chasing a spot with the Vikings in 2004.
Lesnars final match took place in Minneapolis, the same city where he starred in college wrestling and built the kind of larger-than-life profile that followed him through The Next Big Thing and The Beast Incarnate eras. The wrestling chapter is now finished after 26 years, but the Minnesota connection remains part of the story, especially for anyone who remembers how close he came to adding one more surprising line to his athletic rsum. [Read more 🡒]