The official mascot of Mississippi State University is the Bulldog. The Bulldog has been the symbol of the university since 1961 and represents the university's fierce spirit and determination. The university's athletic teams are known as the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Bulldog mascot can be seen at all home sporting events, cheering on the teams and engaging with fans. The Bulldog is a beloved figure on campus and is often seen at various university events, spreading school spirit and creating a sense of comradery among students, alumni, and fans..

Mississippi State’s new live mascot, ‘Dak,’ to assume duties Saturday

Come this weekend, Mississippi State will have a new top dog on campus.

Bully XXII, or “Dak,” will take over as the university’s live mascot at halftime of Saturday’s spring football game. Upon receiving the harness from “Jak” (Bully XXI), who enters retirement after eight years, Dak will officially assume his sideline duties.

I have some big paw prints to fill. Enjoy your retirement, Jak! https://t.co/GHAG1ykXNr

— Dak – Bully XXII (@BullyXXII) April 11, 2023

Named after Mississippi State legend and current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, “Dak” was selected to succeed “Jak” in 2021 shortly after birth. After two years of growing and training, the time has come for him to begin roaming the sidelines.

Mississippi State’s spring game will kick off Saturday at noon at Davis Wade Stadium as part of Super Bulldog Weekend.

Your Mississippi forecast for Thursday, April 13

Thunder end Pelicans’ season 123-118

J.T. Mitchell

J.T. Mitchell has served as news director for SuperTalk Mississippi since 2021. He is in charge of overseeing both the online and on-air product for SuperTalk Mississippi News, which airs on 48 stations across the state. J.T. is also the host of "From D2 to D3," a weekly show highlighting Division II and Division III sports in Mississippi. Prior to becoming news director, J.T. worked as a multimedia journalist for News Mississippi and SuperTalk Mississippi from 2019-2021. He previously served as an editor for Our Mississippi Home, an e-magazine based on the Gulf Coast. He received his education from Sewanee: The University of the South. For inquiries or story tips, email [email protected].

'Tonka,' the new Bully, prepares to take lead MSU mascot role

Lisa Chrestman, an animal health technician at MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, continues in her role as Bully's foster mom and social secretary.

She said "TaTonka"--a Sioux term for "buffalo"--was named by veterinary students who thought the word best described the shape of the animal's head. "Gold" was part of his mother's name and also is the color of parts of his coat, she added.

"Tonka," his moniker, is the first mascot purchased outright by the MSU athletic department. His predecessors were donated either by alumni, students or university employees.

The pup, which goes to work with Chrestman every day, is the latest in a long line of bulldog mascots dating to the early days of the 20th century.

Chrestman said the process of selecting a new Bully required more than a year and included the screening of some 15 candidates by a team of veterinary college specialists and athletic department staff members.

In addition to being healthy, the general criteria for selection included an attractive conformation (body shape) and a multi-colored coat, which is more photogenic and more easily appreciated from stadium seats than a solid-colored dog.

Chrestman said each candidate was given full physical examinations, including a chest X-ray to determine trachea size. Bulldogs with small tracheas have problems breathing in the Mississippi heat, she explained.

"The first thing I noticed about Tonka was that he had that 'I'm it and I know I'm it' air about him," she said. "He seems to be the perfect mascot."

In addition to appearances at home football season starts, Tonka will be greeting alumni prior to each of the seven home games at the Butler-Williams Alumni Center. He also will be in attendance at basketball and baseball games, and many other university events.

When not working, Tonka will reside at the Bully House in the Wise Center, home of the veterinary college on Blackjack Road.

Chrestman said campus visitors are welcome to stop by and see Tonka whenever the "Bully" flag is flying on the Wise Center flagpole. Entrance to the Bully House may be made through the medical complex's north entrance, which is near the flagpole.

Chrestman said Tonka's mascot career probably would run about six or seven years. Afterwards, she said, "We want him to enjoy a retired celebrity life."

For information about Bully's campus appearances or public visitation schedule, contact Chrestman at (662) 325-1052 or [email protected].

Tue, 08/14/2001 - 05:00

How Mississippi State made its AI mascot schedule joke: ‘It’s going to look so wrong’

Some went simple. Alabama used a clip of a recent win against each team. Ole Miss put out a mashup nonsense video about not playing Vanderbilt. Some did nothing.

Then there was Mississippi State, which quickly set social media ablaze with a video and a graphic of its eight opponent mascots, generated in bizarre fashion via artificial intelligence. Every animal was bipedal. There was a big orange head for Tennessee, jorts on a Florida Gator and a big thumbs-up for Texas A&M, images that were immediately screenshotted and saved by fans for future meme purposes this fall.

Naturally, there were some follow-up questions. So The Athletic talked with Mississippi State director of creative design John Swinney and senior director of creative video Spencer Rubin about how the images came together and how they made sure everyone was in on the joke. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

I am going to ask about the Tennessee big orange head, but first, how did the idea to do AI mascots come together?

Rubin: About a week and a half ago, we were approached by (deputy athletic director/external engagement) Tom Greene and asked, “Hey, the SEC is releasing the 2024 opponents next week, what do we think about an NFL-style release?” We start throwing out ideas, and our director of creative video Brady Kiker goes, “What if we did that AI-generative fill on Photoshop?” So we crowded around a desk and started testing it out. John was out of town.

Swinney: I was out, I come back on Monday and they ask me about working on some AI stuff for mascots. I don’t even know what this project is for. I just know they’re showing me these goofy mascots and say we need all (15) teams. … We really got it going (Tuesday) morning.

Rubin: We really pushed it to the last minute. We get out of our football meeting, set up a tripod and did about two hours of filming. It started coming together once John started making them and we started seeing what Adobe would give us. The video was bringing the storyline to make it make sense. Out of context, you see that thing and you’re either scared, confused or excited.

Yeah, I think a lot of people first saw those pictures floating around and had to figure out what they were. How specific did you have to get in the AI prompts to make those?

Swinney: That was really tough because Adobe just rolled out this new AI program, it’s a beta app for Photoshop. Our assistant director Kylee Palombo helped me out a lot. Basically, we knew we needed a base player. So we found a generic player in pads, which you can see in the video and made that the base layer. The prompts, some of them were pretty in-depth. For Ole Miss, it was like, “Landshark red and blue,” and then I get the image, go in and correct it.

Florida, I did, “Orange and blue gator,” it gave me that, and I was like, what makes Florida a little more Florida? People say stuff about the jean shorts, so I added a pair of jorts on top of it. With Texas A&M, their mascot is a human and AI is terrible with humans. So that one actually isn’t AI. I had to find a thumb and make it a person.

Tennessee took the longest. I probably sat at the computer screen for two hours trying to figure out what to do. You can’t do a volunteer, their dog is hard to find. So finally I just typed in “Big Orange” and that’s what came up. There was some tweaking on the back side. I struggled at first. This just doesn’t look good. Spencer had to remind me, “This is supposed to look like nightmare stuff. Like it’s goofy. It’s not supposed to look good.”

My next three questions were specifically about Tennessee, the gator shorts and the Texas A&M thumb.

Swinney: When I saw those, I knew they’d be big hits. The reaction we got was exactly what we were hoping for.

Rubin: The one thing we always talk about is creating content that doesn’t only appeal to our fan base but the general football fan base. I kept reminding John that it’s not going to look right. It’s going to look so wrong.

The thumb, that was for “Gig ‘em,” right?

Swinney: People say Texas A&M has the milkman outfits, but that’s not something AI can imagine. What does A&M do? They do the thumbs-up with “Gig ‘em,” so I went with that.

The Texas one, it looks like that meme of the fan with the hands on his hips. Did you ask for that specific pose?

Swinney: Texas was a lot harder than I thought. I typed in like, “orange longhorn,” “orange bull,” and some of the stuff was just absolutely wild. I finally typed in “orange longhorn bull with hands on hips” and I think in comic book style and it finally got that. I added the hat.

Which one is your favorite?

Rubin: I’m going to have to go with the Tennessee orange because every time we watched the video back and that thing popped up, I didn’t know what to do with myself.

Swinney: Tennessee orange is the funniest, but I really liked the Florida one.

Are any in particular more terrifying to you?

Swinney: The Georgia Bulldog was a struggle. AI struggled with bulldogs. The Tennessee one is crazy. I don’t know where it got the face from. It was almost like Crying Jordan.

Rubin: I would definitely say the Georgia Bulldog is the most frightening. The most confusing is the shark.

What did you think of all the reaction?

Swinney: I was really worried it wouldn’t go over well, that people might not realize it’s a joke and ask why we’re designing terrible graphics. The video really sold the (joke) part of it. It’s easily the most interacted-with graphic I’ve ever made. It’s done exactly what we hoped for. Every 10 minutes, I check it.

Ubben: I hate realignment, but I love this SEC schedule. Anyone else conflicted?

I gotta ask, as graphic and creative people, are you worried about AI taking your job?

Swinney: There’s always been some artificial intelligence in Photoshop. If you use it right, it can be a good tool. It was my first time really getting into it. But like, you can get a photo of anything you want. It’s advancing. If you use it as a tool, you don’t have to worry about that taking your job.

Rubin: I’ve heard a lot of creatives using it to their advantage, in cases where they can’t make something themselves. It’s become an advantage in video, graphic design and motion graphics. You can up your game by creating a different background or an asset you wouldn’t normally have.

Like a big orange head. Lastly, did you see that Vanderbilt also did AI schedule graphics? Theirs was in a more artistic way.

Rubin: It was funny to see both sides. To see the full masterpiece and more of a canvas was cool to see how they did it. The Washington Commanders did a similar release that was more oddball, but Vandy’s was pretty cool.

Swinney: We’ve got a really good group of people here that are very open and supportive. We never had any roadblocks or anything. Everyone let us run with the idea, and they trusted us with it.

(Graphic courtesy of Mississippi State Athletics)

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

PETA Wants Mississippi State to Retire Bulldog Mascot After Incident With Auburn Player

Like most extensions of this presidential administration, PETA has faded into the far corners of everyone's mind until they do something outrageous to make their way back into the public purview again. In this week's edition of this endless cycle of news, the organization released a press release on Tuesday explaining why they've requested Mississippi State retire their Bully the bulldog mascot, currently played by Jak the bulldog.

In case you missed it, Mississippi State faced off against Auburn last weekend. During the game, Auburn running back Jatarvious Whitlow was tackled out of bounds and ended up colliding with Jak the bulldog. Both parties glared at each other as the former got off the ground. Bully was ultimately fine, and that was the end of it.

Until, of course, it wasn't. PETA sent a letter to Mississippi State president Dr. Mark Keenum pleading for the school to retire their mascot and not to use a live animal for mascot purposes in the future. No point in copying over the full letter, but here are the relevant quotes:

"I'm writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world's largest animal rights organization, with more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide. Concerned citizens are contacting us about an incident in which a football player apparently collided with Jak, Mississippi State's live bulldog mascot, during the September 28 game against Auburn University."

"In light of this close call—which could easily have left Jak severely injured or even dead—as well as the cruelty inherent in using living beings as "mascots," I urge you to retire Jak and pledge not to use live animals in the future."

They later went on to cite last year's Sugar Bowl incident where the Longhorns mascot broke out of its pen and charged Georgia's own bulldog mascot, which is a fair argument against using large animals, at the very least, as mascots. They also outlined the various health concerns that come along with bringing a dog into a big stadium, and concluded with this:

"Public opinion has turned against using animals for "entertainment," and most universities and professional sports teams have switched to using costumed human mascots instead of real animals. Unlike animals, human mascots can lead cheers, interact with the crowd, and pump up the team—all willingly."

"May we please have your assurance that you will bring Mississippi State into the 21st century by giving Jak the retirement he deserves and pledging not to use real animals as mascots? Thank you for your attention to this important issue."

PETA breaking down the benefits of a human mascot is not something I expected to read in the year 2019, but here we are. What a world. You can take away whatever you'd like from this, but I will say that PETA should probably be doing something more. important? The livelihood of Jak the bulldog is paramount, but there's quite a lot going outside of the realm of the NCAA.

Anywho, we'll keep an eye on this riveting saga.

.

.

Reviews for "The Legacy of Bully: Mississippi State's Enduring Mascot"

1. Tom - 1/5 - The documentary "What is Mississippi State Mascot" was an absolute disappointment. The film lacked depth and failed to provide any meaningful information about the mascot. It felt more like a promotional video rather than a documentary. The interviews were shallow and lacked substance, leaving me with more questions than answers. Overall, I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on this film.

2. Sarah - 2/5 - As someone who was genuinely interested in learning about Mississippi State's mascot, this documentary fell short. The filmmakers seemed more focused on capturing flashy visuals rather than providing a comprehensive background on the mascot's history and significance. Furthermore, the pacing was off, with unnecessary and dull scenes dragging on. I was left feeling unsatisfied and still wondering about the mascot's cultural significance.

3. John - 1/5 - "What is Mississippi State Mascot" was a complete letdown. The documentary lacked structure and coherence, jumping from one topic to another without a clear narrative or direction. Additionally, the production quality was subpar, with poor sound editing that made it difficult to understand the interviews. Overall, it was a disjointed and disorganized attempt at exploring the mascot, leaving me with more confusion than knowledge.

4. Emily - 2/5 - I had high hopes for "What is Mississippi State Mascot", but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The documentary seemed to focus more on the personal opinions of individuals rather than presenting factual information. I was hoping to gain a deeper understanding of the mascot's origins and cultural significance, but instead, I was left with a superficial overview. It was a missed opportunity to explore a fascinating topic in a meaningful way.

5. Mark - 1/5 - I found "What is Mississippi State Mascot" to be a complete waste of time. The documentary lacked depth and failed to provide any real insights into the mascot's history or significance. The interviews seemed staged and rehearsed, lacking authenticity. Overall, it was a poorly executed film that left me feeling uninterested and unsatisfied.

The Evolution and Design of Mississippi State's Mascot