SPIRIT OF THE MONTH: EVAN ROWLEY

RUNNING AROUND for hours, clunky equipment, intense heat, the pressure to please – sounds like a usual game day for a Texas football player. But the football players aren’t the only ones who have it tough on Saturdays.

Meet Evan Rowley, one of six students who don a suit and transform into the Hook ‘em mascot. The public relations major is a member of the Longhorn band, but when Texas hits the road, he assumes the role ….

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of his alter-ego. As Hook ‘em, Rowley operates under a rigid set of rules to ensure fans get the most out of the fun-loving mascot — who’s positioned as Bevo’s younger, mischievous brother.

“The No. 1 no-no is making sure no one sees you in the suit, or changing — especially children,” he said. “And you’re not allowed to talk.” Not breaking any of the mascot rules is key, but another top priority is making sure all six members who play Hook ‘em operate in sync. “Between us, there’s a height discrepancy and we all have specific body language,” Rowley said. “But we focus on maintaining the character across the board. Our coaches, and maybe the cheerleaders could tell who’s who, but the fans would be hard-tasked to tell the difference between us.”

Rowley and the other five members went to mascot camp this summer, where they trained with Baylor, Oklahoma, New Mexico State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a few schools from Louisiana. While at camp, professional mascots schooled the group on maintaining the character’s strut and personality, how to clean the suit, as well as how to increase the mascot’s presence on campus. “You kind of take it from there,” Rowley said. Hydration is critical and because of Austin’s heat, the student mascots alternate being Hook ‘em during halftime. But while on the road this year — specifically at Ole Miss, Oklahoma State and Kansas — Rowley was a one-man show.

Two of the games took place at night and the other was well north, so he didn’t need to worry about the heat. Nevertheless, he still worked up a big sweat. “The suit isn’t
too heavy but it gets pretty hot in there,” Rowley said. “It’s not very breathable and
you wear a lot of layers. It can get toasty pretty quickly.” In addition to the football
games, Hook ‘em also supports the volleyball, baseball, basketball and women’s soccer teams.

He also makes appearances at private events, where he’s surrounded and tugged on by children from all directions. “Overall the most important thing is you have to keep Hook ‘em personal,” Rowley said. “He’s fun-loving and loves everyone.” Rowley started warming to the idea of being Hook ‘em last year, watching the mascot intently to pick up the tricks of the trade. He looked into the tryout process and, after being accepted, attended the camp over the summer.

Rowley will graduate in May of 2014, where he expects his career as mascot will end. “I think that this would be it,” he said. “Mascotting in the future would be funny, but immediately after college I’ll have a concrete career plan.”

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