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Why Razorbacks?
Arkansas’ athletic teams have not always been called the Razorbacks. During the early years of its athletic history, the
Cardinal served as the University nickname. A lot of things changed in 1909, however, when Arkansas football coach Hugo Bezdek
called his players “a wild band of Razorback hogs,” after guiding his team to a 16-0 victory over Louisiana State on October
30, 1909.
Alluding to the Razorback, characterized by a ridge back and tenacious, wild fighting ability, Bezdek never forgot this idea and
often called his team “a fighting band of Razorbacks.” This new nickname became increasingly popular and the student body voted
to change the official University mascot from the Cardinal to the Razorbacks in 1910.
In the 1920s, “Wooo, Pig, Sooie” was added as the school yell, referred to more commonly as the “Hog Call.”
There are dozens of Lions, Tigers and Bears, but in all of college athletics there is only one Razorback. The distinctive logo
of the Arkansas teams is officially known as the Profile Hog, but is known to many fans as the Helmet Hog -- a fixture of the
football team’s helmet for almost half a century”
RUNNING THROUGH THE ‘A’
Outland Trophy winner Lloyd Phillips
played for Arkansas more than three decades ago, but his memories of running through the “A”
remain as fresh as the morning dew.“Just to be able to run through that ‘A’ and hear the fans
cheer for you is unbelievable,” said Jim Mabry, an All-American offensive tackle for the
1989 Razorbacks. “To sit in the stands now, I still get chill bumps every time the bands
starts playing and I see the guys running out through the ‘A.’ It is a tradition that has
been special for years around here.”
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