McNeese Athletics History

The first mascot of McNeese was a palomino pony named "Mac" secured for the student body by the "Rally Ranglers." After Mac's demise, several other ponies took his place. The basketball team chose the cowboy as the mascot in the mid 1940s due to the popularity of rodeos and that the McNeese campus was formerly a farm. Later, the school mascot was a student dressed in cowboy gear riding a horse. In 1982, "Rowdy" was born. The Rowdy costume consists of an over-sized, full-length cowboy with a large hat and exaggerated features. The costume
includes an ice-pack vest and fan in the top of the hat for ventilation. Rowdy was named after Clint Eastwood's character on the "Rawhide" television show. According to legend, Rowdy was on a cattle drive out west when he stopped in Lake Charles and decided to stay. Rowdy likes to do back-flips, crowd-surf, an ride his trusty ice chest down the hill into the hole at football games.