The Detroit Lions First Mascot Looked Like An AI Generated Nightmare

Mascots are synonymous with so many sports teams, and here in Michigan we have some iconic mascots like Hooper, Paws, and Roary. The Detroit Red Wings are the only professional team in Michigan that doesn’t have an active mascot but has always been represented with a purple octopus.

Ever since the early 1900s when a taxidermy mount was brought out by the Chicago Cubs and later a live animal that was used in 1916 it’s almost tradition now to have a mascot for your team. You could even say it goes back to the 1800s when a little boy named Chic who is basically the bat boy for baseball players became known as a team's good luck charm. Now the sports mascot is something that connects young fans with and something to bring another level of entertainment to the game.

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Detroit Lions First Mascot

Recently I stumbled upon a picture of the very first Detroit Lions mascot and to be honest with you it looks like one of those terrifying AI-generated photos but it’s a real person. William Moon Baker was one of the first Detroit Lions mascots, spending 27 years as the mascot until his son Bill took on those responsibilities in the 1960.

A woman named Blanche Verhougstraete played the cub mascot, but as you can see below, both costumes look like something out of a fever dream.

The one thing you have to take away is that these costumes were not able to be mass-produced like they are today and the quality was naturally going to be not as accurate. Considering the time, they weren’t too bad, but looking back at it now they looked terrifying.