Handsome Dan

In addition to a person wearing a costume, the position is filled by an actual bulldog, the honor and title being transferred to a successor upon death or retirement.

Handsome Dan was selected based on his ability to tolerate bands and children, negative reaction to the color crimson and to tigers (the symbols of rival schools Harvard and Princeton respectively), bought by Yale student Andrew Barbey Graves,[1] who cleaned up the dog and named him “Handsome Dan.” Soon, Dan followed Graves everywhere around campus, including sporting events.

[4] According to the Hartford Courant, "In personal appearance, he seemed like a cross between an alligator and a horned frog, and he was called handsome by the metaphysicians under the law of compensation.

He was always taken to games on a leash, and the Harvard football team for years owed its continued existence to the fact that the rope held.

After a 35-year interval, Handsome Dan II was purchased with pennies donated by the freshman class, and given to coach Ducky Pond.

Handsome Dan III was a huge white dog who exhibited morbid fear of crowds and had to be retired.

Handsome Dan IV had his spine fractured by a car early in his term of office, leaving his hind legs paralyzed.

"Bull", brought in his youth to watch football practices by his owner, high school student Bob Day, who lived near the Yale Bowl,[9] ascended to office when Handsome Dan IV died.

[8] A great success, he loved public appearances and the adulation of crowds, was a familiar figure around the locker rooms, and joined the team on a trip to Princeton University.

[10] It was reported that he died from fear of fireworks at the Yale-Harvard game, or of shame from seeing the Yale team lose to both Princeton and Harvard in the same year.

Handsome Dan VII was donated to football coach Herman Hickman at age 3 but he proved to have a bad temper, which suited him better in his next position as a watchdog on a Florida estate.

Handsome Dan VIII, however, was owned by assistant football manager Tom Shutt,[12] ushering in a new era of family membership for the office-holder.

Notable for falling off the dock at the Yale Boathouse and nearly drowning[13] (confirming the hypothesis that bulldogs cannot swim, due to the peculiarities of their physiques); some contemporary news reports say that he had to be resuscitated after having had his head embedded in the mud.

"Danny" was born September 11, 1953, and owned by John E. Sanders, Assistant Professor of Geology, after an earlier custody by physical education instructor Alfred E. Scholz and Varsity Crew Coach Jim Rothschmidt.

[13] He made his mascot debut at the age of six weeks and an autopsy at his death revealed that he succumbed to acute nephrotic syndrome.

"Woodie" aka "Boodnick", also owned by John E. Sanders, marked a return to the high standards seen in Handsome Dan V. An impressive 74 pounds, a beloved family pet as well as winner of the best bulldog title at the Cape Cod Kennel Club conformation dog show, he was instrumental in leading Yale's football team to its 9 and 0 season in 1960.

"Oliver", owned by Yale's Pierson College master John Hersey, loved football but had a tendency to doze in the sun during games.

Magnificent Mugsy Rangoon, a Bulldog from Hamden, Connecticut, was picked by a five-person panel for his gregarious personality, large size (69 pounds),[2] good health, and his ability to deal with the raucous Yale Precision Marching Band.

A new bulldog named Sherman quietly assumed the mascot position as Handsome Dan XVII in late winter 2006.

[15] Bred by Diane Judy of Johnson City, Tenn., Handsome Dan XVII, a 50-pound bulldog, was the half brother of Rambo, owned by former Yale football captain Rory Hennessey.

After generations of English Bulldog mascots the university went towards a healthier breed and closer replication of the original Handsome Dan.

[17][18] On 5 November 2020, it was announced that Handsome Dan XVIII would retire in early spring 2021 following the October departure of Discepolo, though it is not currently known whether there is a causal link.

The TV series Gilmore Girls, which is set in Connecticut, makes several references to the Handsome Dan Statue.

The bulldog is named Handsome Dan in honor of Blair's aspirations to attend Yale following high school.