Since 1892, when a Yale student showed up at a sporting event with his pet bulldog, Handsome Dan, it is not uncommon to see live animals patrol the sidelines of college football games.
Such is the case at Colorado State, previously known as Colorado A&M, where CAM the Ram sprints their 250-pound body across the end zone to celebrate touchdowns at home games during the fall.
What is the history behind the Colorado State Rams’ mascot, CAM the Ram?
Who (or What) Is the Colorado State Rams’ Mascot?
Colorado State University’s loveable mascot, CAM the Ram, always ranks high in fan appeal and enthusiasm.
His name reflects CSU’s history in that the letters of his name stand for Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College, the University’s former name.
Former university president Bill Morgan officially named the mascot CAM the Ram during halftime of a 1954 Colorado State basketball game against the school’s archrival, Wyoming. CAM has been a steady spirit booster ever since, still escorted in style by student volunteers known as the Ram Handlers.
However, CAM the Ram is actually not the first live animal to represent CSU’s culture and community.
CSU’s first animal ambassador and mascot from 1913 to 1918 was an English bulldog named Peanuts. During World War I, Peanuts accompanied a Colorado Army National Guard artillery unit Battery A from Colorado to New Jersey for training in 1916.
While undoubtedly missed on campus, Peanuts kept soldiers in training company and even participated in a military parade in New York City until the soldiers were deployed. However, upon returning to Fort Collins, Colo., Peanuts was poisoned in response to another fraternity’s dog being poisoned as well.
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Following Peanuts’ death, a 15-month-old black bear named Teddy was CSU’s first official mascot. Teddy originally belonged to a former member of a traveling show called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West before being given to the college.
After Teddy was retired in 1920, CSU’s least-known mascot rose to prominence in the form of a bulldog named Gallant Defender. Gallant became CSU’s mascot during the time the university was named Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. However, Gallant was only part of Colorado State’s history for around two years before he was retired with little mention.
In 1945, with no mascot in place, the student body on campus decided that rams best represented the culture of Colorado A&M. When the school was rebranded to Colorado State University in 1957, CAM remained as the mascot.
CSU’s first ram was named Buck, and it was not until 1954 that the symbolic mascot was named CAM, as both an acronym for Colorado A&M and a rhyme.
As a mascot, CAM lives in a top-secret location off campus and is cared for by a group of two dozen Ram Handlers at all hours of the day who are responsible for cleaning, feeding, and caring for the animal. CAM is always a Rambouillet sheep.
There have been 26 rams that have served as CAM, and a new CAM is brought on when a previous one either retires or dies — which famously occurred in 2015 just before the Rocky Mountain Showdown against the Colorado Buffaloes.
Why Is Colorado State the Rams?
The Colorado A&M student body referred to themselves as “Aggies” until a vote was called to change the nickname to “Rams” in 1945, the college’s 60th anniversary. By the end of the decade, the nickname “Aggies” had evolved to “Aggie Rams,” and eventually it became simply “Rams”.
The first woolly ram, named Buck, made his debut at a men’s basketball game against Denver University on Jan. 11, 1946.
There is also a costumed, two-legged CAM the Ram whose first appearances date back to the early 1980s. The newest version was unveiled in Oct. 2010.
CAM can be seen on all types of Colorado State University merchandise and can even be seen as a stuffed animal in the stores on campus. The costume CAM can be seen at the majority of home sporting events as well as out in the community, alongside the live version.